When Men were Men, and Cameras were Bakelite
Vintage cameras. OK,…we all know what vintage means. A 1956 Leica M3 double stroke? Well, sure, that’s vintage, but not REALLY vintage. I mean, some pretty cool cameras have been made over time. However, “weird” almost always trumps “cool”. So the Leicas are cool. But the Ensign Ful-Vue is weird. And it’s only the tip of the iceberg. Here are some examples. From the very high tech Bakelite beauties, to the crappy Chinese plastic wunderkinds of Barbie. Of course, when I was a kid I collected very old comics.
The Neverending Choices
Being a serious “film” site, I thought it only fitting I include a metal Graflex and Polaroid. Strangely, I’ve only included an inkling of the really mind boggling. When I started, I figured I’d find like a few esoteric cameras that were made over the years. Boy,…was I wrong. There’s like over a 1000. So, I limited it to 35mm, 127, 120 and a couple of Polaroids, from about 1935 thru 1960. Otherwise, I would have to commit myself to writing the first blog post in history that competed with Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”. They included in that time period ;
Ansco Camera, Head Robot, Argoflex, Imperial Mark 27, Ensign Ful-Vue, Kodak Startech, Kodak Brownie, VectaSabre 620, Valiant 620, Haneel Tri-Vision, Color-Flex, Zeiss Ikon Voigtländer Vitessa, Univex Mercury II, Tower Camflash 127, Spartus Rocket, Univex Uniflash, Kodak Hawkette, The President (made in USA by The Camera Man), Slick For Rebollo, Anscoflex II, Spartus Press Flash…And More!
Not a Collector
I have a few cameras I use. Nikon, Rolleiflex, Contax. So I considered myself obsessed. NOT! I guess you have to at least have a “Voltron” camera to be considered a true collector. I actually use my cameras.
Camera Countries
The countries that made these cameras were mostly USA, UK and France. Surprisingly, Germany seemed to only produce the serious stuff,…Leica, Rolleiflex and Zeiss Ikon Voigtländer, and some high end all metal Kodaks. I suppose all these companies thought they had built a better mousetrap. And the Bakelite cameras all seemed to have the aesthetic of Art Deco. I doubt it was cheaper than metal, but I’m sure it was very fashionable at the time. While Edward Land invented the Polaroid, (demonstrated it), in 1947, I don’t think the first production models came out until 1954. The first “Barbie” Polaroid camera wasn’t actually released until 1999. And let’s not forget Sweden. On October 6, 1948, Victor Hasselblad introduced the Hasselblad 1600F.
Hindsight is Always 20/20
About the only names that were familiar to me were Leica, Zeiss Ikon, Mamiya, Voigtländer and Kodak. And, later, Polaroid. While Nikon, Canon, Minolta and others were around, it seemed most of their stuff was after the war, and more,….uhhh, serious. I’m sure the Haneel Tri-Vision was suppose to be “serious”, (it was built like a tank), and some others too, but in hindsight, some of the ideas just seem silly.
An Untapped “Collectors” Treasure Trove?
While some of these cameras may have been questionable in their imaging abilities, this genre of photographic history has been quite neglected. Will the day ever come that an Art Deco Bakelite stereo 35mm camera is worth $50,000+ at a Sotheby’s or Christie’s auction house? Well,…I don’t know. But then, I didn’t have enough sense to keep my Mickey Mantle baseball card either. So,…what do I know? And, yes, they do have a “collectors” bible. If you’re going to get serious. 😎
McKeown’s Price Guide to Antique & Classic Cameras