A lot of bologna: NOW PLAYING, JAN. 27, 1962

I have to admit: when I first scoped this ad for a Gadsden AL theater, I thought that the theater was offering free bologna to young moviegoers. Instead, a free kiddie movie show apparently served as the incentive to get kids to eat the stuff, or at least convince their parents to buy it.



The thing about a kiddie show was, you didn't really have to be too specific about what you were offering. As long as you promised cartoons you had some folks hooked. Then you made your money at the concession stand -- unless the kids brought their own bologna, that is.

For older children, drive-ins like this one in Sarasota offered value for money: a racing-themed quadruple bill.




I confess to batting 0-for-4 on these pictures. Green Helmet is a British racing film with Ed Begley Sr. as the token American. No trailer for that one, but here's one for Johnny Dark, uploaded by grhacker2001.




And here's Thunder in Carolina, from surfink1963.


As for Born to Speed, the Trail had to reach all the way back to 1947 to get that one -- but they aren't telling you that. I imagine many carloads left early to dream their way home behind the wheel, and most likely they all made it.