A most Successful Creation

3. The Golden Age of the Curtain (1930s – 1960s)

During this era, photo booths became a staple of train stations, amusement parks, and Woolworths stores.

• Wartime Connection: During WWII, soldiers used booths to take quick portraits for their loved ones before shipping out.

• Pop Culture Icon: This was the era of the "curtain." The privacy it provided allowed for candidness. It caught the eye of surrealist artists like Salvador Dalí and André Breton, who saw it as a tool for capturing the "unconscious" self. Later, Andy Warhol famously used photo booth strips as the basis for his high-art silkscreens.