Photomaton
A vintage photobooth machine in action. This picture shows a booth installed in a shop, that appears to be a chemist or some type of general store. You can see examples of the types of options one had to get a booth photo enlarged and the white coated operator who directed the sitters to move and pose at different angles for each shot.
Photobooth Journal 
How interesting that there was an operator. I always assumed photo booths were intended to be self-serve. (In fact, I assumed that was part of their appeal.) I didn’t realize they would have a staff.
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Hi Matt. Originally the appeal was the cheap price and the fact that you waited only minutes for the photos at a time when you mostly had to wait a week or more for snaps to be processed by a lab. I need to find out if any of the machines were automatic in the early days. I know that in the earliest days they were all in shops, where the staff were an integral part of helping you to get good shots in a variety of poses.
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Thanks for the information!
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