# Photo booths - where were they? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 25, 2024, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137 "2024-12-25T01:36:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137/21 "2024-12-25T16:48:21Z")
They were definitely not the correct format here. For IDs you went to the pharmacy or photo shop. The DMV taking their own is a very recent phenomenon here. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137/22 "2024-12-25T16:49:40Z")
Yes, mostly for fun photos. The only ID that required me to submit a photo was my passport. For everything else that had a photo (driver’s license , warehouse club membership cards or work or school ID ) the issuing entity took the photo. Library cards, most membership cards, public transit cards etc didn’t/don’t have photos ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137/23 "2024-12-25T16:56:10Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > The DMV taking their own is a very recent phenomenon here Interesting since I figured the “Bad driver’s license photo” trope was as old as time and based on your single chance to look good for the DMV photo since the state government employee wasn’t going to do any do-overs. But, if you were bringing your own photo, you’d have the luxury of taking as many pictures as you could afford to get a good one before you came in. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137/24 "2024-12-25T17:52:20Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > They were definitely not the correct format here. For IDs you went to the pharmacy or photo shop. For me (German, like the poster you replied to), the photo booths were, in fact, the primary source of photos for official ID documents, such as driving licences, passports and the like. I also assumed that this was what the owners of the booths intended them for primarily. That came to an end when, post 9/11, the requirements for photos for ID purposes became stricter: You had to stare straight into the camera, position your face within a certain range in the picture, were not allowed to smile, had to be photographed against a bright background, no headwear, all that stuff. With these guidelines, it got just too easy to screw something up, so now, I’d also go to the pharmacy for such purposes. In the old days, however, pretty much anything that looked vaguely like me would be accepted. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137/25 "2024-12-25T17:56:35Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > That came to an end when, post 9/11, the requirements for photos for ID purposes became stricter: You had to stare straight into the camera, position your face within a certain range in the picture, were not allowed to smile, had to be photographed against a bright background, no headwear, all that stuff. Those were our guidelines in at least the 90s already, hence the need for a professional to take your photo. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137/26 "2024-12-25T17:58:33Z")
Those photos are so dear; thanks for sharing, **Qadgop**. I remember some bars used to have photo booths; drunk people love to mug for the camera. Slight hijack: I thought the OP said “phone booths” and didn’t realize the truth until the fourth post. Me: “Hmmm, I could have sworn @mixdenny was older”. 🤦🏽‍♀️ ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137/27 "2024-12-25T18:02:16Z")
The first one I remember seeing was at the Texas State Fair in Dallas, sometime about 1960. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137/28 "2024-12-25T18:31:25Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > They were also in a type of store that really doesn’t exist anymore - “five and dime” stores like Woolworths. There are a few. Oberlin, Ohio has a Ben Franklin. https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=%213m2%212sen%214v0%216m8%211m7%211siC5bEsbhIVnf9lsxlUXAMA%212m2%211d41.2916646%212d-82.2177716%213f176.68%214f7.315%215f0.75 ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137/29 "2024-12-25T18:37:47Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > a type of store that really doesn’t exist anymore - “five and dime” stores Isn’t the “five and dime” business model still flourishing? I always assumed that they’re essentially dollar stores, adjusted for inflation. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137/30 "2024-12-25T18:48:32Z")
LOVE this so much. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137/31 "2024-12-25T19:08:47Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > There are a few. Oberlin, Ohio has a Ben Franklin. Trivia; Sam Walton’s first store was a Ben Franklin location. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137/32 "2024-12-25T20:31:11Z")
Well, that is another difference between Europe and the USA I did not know about. Before the stringent security requirements after 9/11 if a picture of you was required, and it often was, you brought it yourself, at your own expense. They would not take it for you, even if you paid for it. BTW, I just remembered the slogan Photomaton had on the side of those boxes in Brussels: _Photos d’identité qui vous resemblent!_ Which I would translate as “ID pictures that look like you!”. It always made me think: yes, that is the point. But you see: it is ID pictures, not fun pics. And a pharmacy – repeatedly mentioned in this thread – is one of the last places I would have guessed as a location to take pictures. I supose the chemical expertise is helpful when developing the negatives? Weird, in my eyes. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137/33 "2024-12-25T20:33:22Z")
Going by my memories of five and dimes, they were different from dollar stores. They weren’t one price stores, but also the merchandise was different from dollar stores today - no cleaning products, laundry detergent , paper plates and towels etc. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137/34 "2024-12-25T20:53:42Z")
He’ll, most of today’s “dollar stores” are not one price stores, either, in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137/35 "2024-12-25T20:54:06Z")
Yeah, we had a thread on this a few years ago. To summarize, they were originally invented as a cheap and easy way for people to get pictures for IDs, and that’s the way they continued to be used in Europe, but in the US they were mostly used for fun, and found in fun, touristy places. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137/36 "2024-12-25T21:16:16Z")
Not just for the passport itself, but if you need(ed) photographs for a travel visa or work permit or whatever, you had better bring those with you to the consulate. Don’t count on being allowed to use their photocopier, either. PS naturally the photos have to conform to some requirements of dimensions, pose, background… I had the notion of taking a digital photograph, tweaking it, then printing it out, but my friend thought I would probably go to prison forever, because you can do anything you want to a digital image but a photo-booth Polaroid has a stricter provenance. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137/37 "2024-12-25T21:40:26Z")
I do not recall any actual phone booths where you closed the folding door behind you left on Long Island or NYC as of 2015. In the UK, or at least London, the only actual red phone boxes are “preserved” in various tourist places and of course there are lots of little ones in souvenir shops. 99% of them are some kind of calling-card scheme. A couple years ago at least one blue police box (like Doctor Who would land in as camouflage) were being moved about. Haven’t seen the show in a while, yet I reckon they must have had a meta-joke where tourists were outside of his craft taking photos of a relic from days long past. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137/38 "2024-12-25T21:55:10Z")
There’s apps out there even for ID photos that comply. I just did my last passport photo with my camera and Photoshop to get to the specs. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137/39 "2024-12-25T22:40:24Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > Going by my memories of five and dimes, they were different from dollar stores. They weren’t one price stores, but also the merchandise was different from dollar stores today - no cleaning products, laundry detergent , paper plates and towels etc. I will confirm this. There is a dollar store right near me and it gives off entirely different vibes from the old Woolworths. ISTM, the photomats I was familiar with clearly said that the photos were not for passports (and eventually, I guess, driver’s licences). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137/40 "2024-12-26T00:11:46Z")
I just came from my local multiplex, and noticed a modern photobooth just inside the lobby entrance. BTW, regarding passport photos, I remember they had a special camera that was set up to take two identical photos, which is what you were required to submit with the passport application. I _think_ one such camera used Polaroid technology to give you instant prints. (And BTW, I’m not sure Polaroid gets enough credit for their instant photo technology. Obsolete now but amazing for its time.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-booths-where-were-they/1012137.md?page=3)