This Auto-Photo Model 21 holds a special spot in our hearts as he was the first booth we acquired. This was the booth that got us into vintage photobooths so in a way we owe it to him. He was the first booth we ever worked on and he taught us the way a photobooth should operate. He was our Photobooth University, where we cut our teeth and earned our stripes.
The origins of this booth are somewhat murky, as most of the time they are. What we do know is that this booth was dug out from the depths of an obscure storage unit somewhere in The South and brought to Savannah where it was placed in a downtown hotspot. Most likely the booth belonged to an old operator who simply no longer wanted or needed the booth and was stashed away until our friends at A&A Studios in Chicago tracked him down. Several strips were found in the booth that were apparently taken at a Six Flags theme park somewhere in America, most likely in the early 1990s. These test strips, likely taken by the technicians who serviced the booths, were intended for purely functional test reasons, but have endured to provide an interesting glimpse of the history of the booth. Other than these clues, very little information remains on the origins. It is this history, this mystery, that gives each booth its unique personality.
The Professor is currently located in downtown Savannah at the Congress Street Social Club, 411 W. Congress St. Come check out the booth that started it all for Retro Photobooths and get your picture taken by this gentleman and a scholar. True-vintage Auto-Photo Model 20. B&W.
No comments:
Post a Comment