Classic Camera Reviews

Remember Altman Camera? This year marks the 40th anniversary of Altman’s closing. Why was it important? Because when it closed in May of 1975, Altman’s was the largest camera store in the world. And Altman’s stocked everything. Not just a lot of stuff, everything.

Altman Camera was the Disneyland of camera stores. (I should know, I worked there.) Four floors, 30,000 square feet of photographic paradise nestled between the Chicago Public Library and the EL tracks at 129 N. Wabash. The phone number was ANdover 3-0749.

Altman Camera was owned by Ralph and Lillian Altman, and some of the smartest camera people in the world worked there. Many of them went on the have long, productive careers in the photo industry, including Bob Moy (Pentax), Don Winkler (Helix), Len Olson (Dot Line), Dennis Turyna (Brandess), Mark Hertzberg (Racine Journal Times), Randy Wallace (Calumet), Tak Komai (Hitachi), George Podowski (U of C) and a slew of others. I apologize to those whose names I can’t remember. I mean, it’s only been four decades!

Even more remarkable than the breadth of the inventory Altman carried was their well-deserved reputation for being 100% trusted. Customers sent us blank personal checks and asked us to fill in the amount. Can you imagine doing that today?

Ralph Altman, who died 13 years ago this month at the age of 84, often told me how he started his camera business with $1000. He followed the classified ads and went to peoples’ homes and bought cameras which he then advertised, again in the classifieds. He never lost his love for classified ads, because even when his store was on top, Ralph still advertised in the classified sections of Modern Photography and Popular Photography and some Chicago newspapers, and the listings looked like this:

Only EPOI sells more Nikons than Altman Camera Co. 129 N Wabash.

If you are too young to know the relationship between EPOI and Nikon, then you’re way too young to remember Altman’s. Too bad. I think you would have liked the place.

Hey reader—if you ever shopped at Altman’s, or especially if you ever worked there, please comment about your experiences on Shutterbug’s Facebook page. Find this story over on FB and comment. Thanks!

—Jon Sienkiewicz