Centenary Celebration of a Scottish-Canadian's 1928 Invention — The Phototeria
One of the last remaining McCowan Phototerias
(Now donated to Toronto Metropolitan University's Archives and Special Collections Department)
In keeping with our objective of showcasing items pertaining to historical activities of Scots in Canada, we are pleased to let you know that we are working with our new board member Bruce McCowan on a special project which will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the invention of the "Phototeria" — arguably the first commercially viable portable photobooth. The inventor was David Alexander McCowan born in 1898. He was the son of a Scarborough farming couple and had four Scottish grandparents.
David A. McCowan & wife, Helen
The story of McCowan's Phototeria is one of overcoming obstacles, summarized here from a very lengthy 1928 Toronto Star Weekly news feature:
As a child, as a youth, as a young man, he stammered lamentably. He could not say "it" without stammering... By sheer grit he conquered this as he won through a multitude of mechanical and technical obstacles in making his phototeria. Today only an occasional hesitation, scarcely noticeable, in his sharp, incisive speech betrays the fact that he once stumbled for utterance. But this is the point: It was this stammering which was one of the main factors in his success... He could not get up in class to read. He could not take part with the bunch. He was isolated from ordinary contacts, from games, from parties — or, rather, he isolated himself. He withdrew within himself. He drew on his own strengths for amusement and development. He developed direction and self-reliance... He found everyone kind, everyone sympathetic, if, at times, embarrassed by his tongue-tied stumbling. In this self-imposed isolation, free from the ordinary distractions of youth, he began to think. He began to concentrate. His mind, with its mechanical bent, turned early to mechanical problems. His hands turned to tools. In his backyard, alone, he was always building railroads and ships."
McCowan's Phototeria was launched in Toronto in 1928. The Phototeria Centenary Celebration project is now in the early stages of development and will take place throughout 2028. It is expected to include:
• A Book Launch: McCowan's Phototeria: The Man and His Machine
(Set in the Context of Scottish Photography Innovation)
• High School Drama Production at the Book Launch: An Inventor in Training
(David A. McCowan stuttered very badly in his youth — the sub-plot is "countering bullying")
• Formal Donation (at the Book Launch) of the David Alexander McCowan Fonds to a public archives
• Showcasing an original century-old Phototeria
We invite members and other readers to be involved in this coming-soon celebration — history teachers, drama teachers, and enthusiasts for photography, photobooths and Scottish-Canadian history.
For further information please contact Emily Botelho (emily@autophoto.org) or Bruce McCowan (bmccowan@netrover.com).