What it looked like Wednesday: Tonawanda’s Young Street

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Why this photo was taken in the first place is a mystery. Even exactly when it was taken is unknown. Looking at it today, probably 35 years after the shutter snapped, shows plenty of little differences between the Young Street of the ’70s and the Young Street of today.

Buffalo News archives

Buffalo News archives

Just to be clear, that’s the corner of a Fotomat in a Twin Fair parking lot. Off in the distance, the beloved and warmly remembered whale car wash. All three of these landmark features were gone by the mid-’80s.

Buffalo in the 80s: Get half-off on film developing at Fotomat

       By Steve Cichon
       steve@buffalostories.com
       @stevebuffalo

In 1980, there were 44 Fotomat locations in Buffalo. Not all had the iconic tiny stand-alone blue booth with a yellow roof, but many did.

By 1990, 23 Fotomat locations were still in operation in Buffalo, but changes in film developing technology were making the stand-alone booths — and the promise of next-day developing — obsolete.

In 1992, 13 former Fotomat kiosks became Wiper Check booths, selling and installing Buffalo-made Trico wiper blades.

Buffalo’s Fotomat locations, from the 1979-80 Buffalo Telephone Directory