What became of America’s Drive-Thru Fotomat?

April 20, 2017

Remember these? Once upon a time, in an era when mankind had to wait an unimaginable 24 hours to see how holiday snaps and selfies had turned out, there was … the trusty Fotomat. A bright and compact little kiosk easily recognisable by its pyramid-shaped gold-coloured roof, usually positioned in a large parking lot outside a strip mall, at its peak in the early 80s, there were over 4,000 Fotomats throughout North America. They offered a “drive-thru” service for overnight film development, which soon became noncompetitive as soon as companies began offering one-hour photo development, and of course would later become entirely obsolete with the takeover of digital photography. But for a while there, it a was a nifty little addition to the suburban landscape…

Russell Street Plaza, 1987. West Peabody 1987 © Flickr/ Jim

Founded in the 1960s, Fotomat sold Kodak-brand film and other photography-related products, but it was also one of the first companies to offer movies for rent on videocassette, a new concept back in 1979. Customers would browse through a small catalog, call a number and order the movie of their choice. The following day, the customer could pick up the cassette at the Fotomat kiosk of their choice along with their photos. The rental cost was $12 per title (the equivalent of nearly $40 today) and the customer could keep it for five days. The price was later reduced to $9.95 for a five-day rental.

Fotomat notably preferred to hire female employees to work in their small kiosks. They wore a royal blue and yellow smock top and were called “Fotomates.” Male employees were known as “Fotomacs” and wore light blue polo shirt. It was a pretty common summer job for local high school kids in suburbia. The Fotomat characterizes the suburban spirit of the mid-eighties and a handful of nostalgic urbanists seem to be quite dedicated to documenting what has become of the kiosks. While most have been demolished, there are former-Fotomats still standing, possibly in their hundreds dotted across the United States. Some urbanists even make a point of seeking them out, to see what has become of this forgotten architectural relic of the 20th century…