Novelty photos - a photo booth with a difference

Photo booths were popular for much of the 20th Century. The first such device was invented in the late 19th Century, with Mathew Stiffens filing his patent for an "automatic photography machine" in 1889, only four years after the first commercially viable coin-operated vending machine was brought out by Percival Everett. They mostly produced tintypes, and were a qualified success because they needed frequent repair and changes of chemicals. The first of the reliable self-operated photo booths along the lines of the modern concept, i.e. a small cubicle with a curtain covering the background and entrance, were operated in New York in the mid-1920s.


This example of a paper print (46.5 x 103 mm) from a photobooth introduces a novelty which I've not seen before, attempting to capture a niche in the market. As well as producing an almost instant photo of the customer, it also captures the date - 10 September 1935 - and the weight of the subject, in this case almost 8 stone 12 pounds. It's not clear how much the snapshot cost, but it couldn't have been much, because the bottom of the print advertises, "Why not have it enlarged? Only 3d."

Further Reading & Browsing.

NY Times Video: The History of the Photo Booth
Photobooth Self-portrait by Andy Warwhol at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Wade's Photobooth Gallery
The Photobooth Blog
Photobooths - Retroland