Truman Capote (the author of Breakfast at Tiffany's), Audrey Hepburn (who starred in the film version of Capote's novel), and Mel Ferrer (Audrey's then-husband.) Where are they? In a photo booth! The rich and famous seemed to delight in them just as much as the proletariat. The first viable photo booths emerged in the 1920s, but it was really the introduction of Polaroid, i.e., instantly developed film, in the 1940s that these combination vending machines-kiosks took off. You could find them in arcades, amusement parks, train stations, bus stations, airports, and eventually shopping malls. Remember this was before cell phones, and thus before selfies. If you or a couple of your friends wanted on the spur of the moment to get your picture taken and didn't want to bug some stranger to hold the camera, you just ducked into one of these inexpensive little booths. One drawback, at least back in the 1950s when Truman, Audrey, and Mel flashed their smiles for the lens, was the background was always the same. No getting your photo snapped in front of the Statue of Liberty. It wouldn't have fit in the booth!
