Even as the days tick down, the staff at Stuyvesant Photo are still keeping their commitment to their customers. I say this because on Friday night, I drove over to Stuy Pho to see if there were any deals left. I purchased a few things – a hot shoe bubble level, some photo pages, a film picker (you try getting the film out of a 35mm canister if you’ve accidentally wound the leader inside without a film picker), and some film.
Now while I’m doing this, I’m keeping an eye on things. And I hear a conversation between some customers and “Polaroid Pete” Harris, one of the counterpeople at Stuy Pho. Seems one of the customers came in to purchase a Holga, and unfortunately all the Holgas were sold, with the last one selling that morning. The customer had hoped to work with a 120 format camera, but with all the Holgas gone, she thought that she was out of luck.
Polaroid Pete went over to a rack where several vintage cameras were on display. He pulled down a bakelite Kodak Brownie camera, which was manufactured in the 1950’s. “Have you ever tried a Kodak Brownie?” Pete asked the customer, who examined the camera as if one would peruse an antique.
“No.”
“Well,” Pete said, “This camera can shoot 120 film, and you can keep it.”
The customer was overjoyed. She even agreed to the proviso that if she ever did got a Holga or some other medium format camera, that the Brownie would be given to another person.
At the same time, I was still looking through some camera bags and other peripherals for myself. I talked with Kim, the owner of Stuy Pho, and said to him that although I really had hoped the store would stick around for years, I wished that it wouldn’t close. He agreed with me, and he did say that he appreciated all the customers who came in.
As we were talking, another set of customers walked in. “What’s this I hear that you’re closing?” one of the patrons asked. “I saw the sign in the window, I thought you were joking.”
“I wish we were joking,” said Kim. “What can I help you buy today?”
Meanwhile, I paid for my purchases. At that point, Polaroid Pete said to me, “Hey Chuck, I’ve got something for you.”
In his hand was – believe it or not – an unopened box of Kodachrome from the 1950’s. “It’s yours.”
Wow. The box had the film – as well as the little metal screw canister and the mailing bag. “How much do I owe you, Pete?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Thanks, Pete. Very much appreciated.
“You going to try to use that?”
“Yep,” I nodded. “I’m going to use it as part of my film retirement shelf.”
If you haven’t had a chance to get to Stuyvesant Photo, there are still plenty of deals available.
A word of advice. You might spend more time talking about photography with Kim and Polaroid Pete and the rest of the staff, to the point where you might want to buy every camera and accessory left in the store.
Chuck The Writer 