Huge pre-Polaroid instant "box" camera ...

Very cool. I had seen street photographers use these cameras in Havana in 2000, but I never completely solved the mystery of what went on inside the box. Now I know! The going rate for tourists was US$1 for a single photo.
 
(Dusting off very rusty memory cells here ... and this memory was part of what got my attention when I viewed the article)

When I was very young (maybe 8 or so) I remember visiting Tijuana on a trip to California and getting my photo taken on a horse (could have been a donkey, LOL) on a street corner. I was not paying that much attention to the camera, as I had not discovered photography yet, but I remember the camera was huge, boxy, on a stand or tripod, and it looked like the photographer developed or rinsed the print in a bucket.

Later when I got into photography I wondered what this was and I'm still not sure. The print was maybe a 4x5 B&W. It was sharp and clear. I remembered it only took a couple of minutes to get the print.

I'm wondering if it wasn't something like the camera pictured.
 
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