Patrick’s Camera Collection Vol. 1

, 5 Comments on Patrick’s Camera Collection Vol. 1

When Patrick and I first started dating he was well on his way to a career as a photographer, and I soon learned he didn’t collect anything. Now, coming from a family of collectors I was a little shocked. Some years previously I had purchased a cute vintage camera and decided to gift it to him, and said “Here, you collect vintage cameras now.” Eventually it led to a collection of over 40 cameras from various decades.

Six cameras of various styles are lined up at the bottom. Blue script reads "Patric's Camera Collection Vol. 1"

Since the collection is large, we decided to split it into two blog posts, 1900 through 1949, and 1950 onwards. Many cameras we could find specific dates for, others however only a decade.

Kodak Number 2 Brownie. A plain black box with a small hole in front where the lens is. A knob on the right is to roll film. The top and left feature small viewfinders.

Kodak No. 2 Brownie circa 1901-1931

The Kodak No. 2 Brownie was significant in that it was the first camera to use 120 film, which became the standard until 35 mm started to take a greater hold later on.

Zeiss Icarette. A small black camera with a bellows that comes out from the middle.

Zeiss Icarette circa 1910s

Kodak Autographic Number 3A. A large black camera with a bellows.

Kodak Autographic No. 3A circa 1910-1916

Two small cameras. Each feature a bellows. The camera on the left is teal blue in color, and is the Kodak Petite, the one on the right is a dusty rose, and is the Kodak Rainbow Hawkeye.

Kodak Petite (blue) and Kodak Rainbow Hawkeye (pink) both circa 1920s

Close-up of the Petite, which features a small pencil like object used to write on the film through a small slot on the back of the camera.

The Petite and Rainbow Hawkeye were similar in many ways with only a handful of small differences. In addition to being sold on its own the Petite was also introduced as part of an ensemble that included a carrying case with lipstick and compact that matched in color to the camera. It was also repackaged as the Coquette, another female oriented set with a compact and lipstick. The Coquette was also offered in a variety of colors, but what made it even more special is that it featured an amazing art decor design on the camera that was also reflected on the compact. The Coquette is basically Patrick’s Holy Grail/unicorn.

The Petite featured a window on the back to inscribe on part of the film using a stylus that was attached to the front, visible on the left in the above photo.

Kodak Rainbow Hawkeye Number 2. A medium sized camera with a bellows, it is dark green in color.

Kodak Rainbow Hawkeye No. 2 Model B circa 1926-1934

This Rainbow Hawkeye is similar to the previous two cameras, except it is slightly larger.

Macy M-16. A black box camera, with a metal front plate that features a small star at the bottom with radiating lines.

Macy M-16 circa 1930s

Kodak Gift Camera. A medium brown bellows style camera with a brown and red art deco style plate around the lens. The design is reflected on the lid of the box it came in which stands behind the camera.

Kodak Gift Camera circa 1930

Kodak Gift Camera. When folded the same deco design is visible on the camera.

The Kodak Gift Camera was created for the holiday season, but unlike the Coquette this one was suppose to be aimed at men. It was styled by Dorwin Teague, and featured a wonderful art deco design that was reflected throughout the camera and on the cedar box it came in.

Kodak Beau Brownie. A box camera that is blue, with a metal plate on front with a geometric two-tone blue deco design.

Kodak Beau Brownie No. 2 circa 1930-1934

Like the Rainbow Hawkeyes, the Beau Brownies also came in various colors, and these specific cameras are at the top of Patrick’s wish list. There were two different Beau Brownies, the Number 2, seen here, which used 120 film, and the slightly larger Number 2A, which used 116 film. Both came in five different colors, and featured the same art deco style design.

Kodak Baby Brownie. A small square camera with rib detailing on the front.

Kodak Baby Brownie circa 1934

Kodak Brownie Junior Six-20. A black box style camera with a metal plate in front featuring a black and gold deco design.

Kodak Brownie Junior Six 20 circa 1934-1942

Univex AF. A ver small green bellows style camera.

Univex AF (green)  circa 1935

The Univex AF was made by the Universal Camera Corporation in New York City, who believed there should be more affordable cameras. The Univex AF came in various colors, and cost one dollar.

Bear Photo Special. A black box style camera with a metal faceplate that has a grizzly bear walking along the bottom with rays radiating from the bear.

Bear Photo Special circa 1938

Detail on the Bear Photo Camera. A small bear shaped metal plaque reads "Bear Photo Service."

This is one of my favorite cameras from Patrick’s collection, because I love anything with the California bear. This particular camera was made by Ansco specifically for the Bear Photo Service in San Francisco.

Kodak Bantam. A small bellows style camera with ribbing on the side.

Kodak Bantam circa 1938-1947

Kodak Baby Brownie Special. A small, black square camera made of bakelite. Lens is circled with white.

Kodak Baby Brownie Special circa 1939-1954

Argus C3. A black body with silver dials rangefinder style camera.

Argus C3 circa 1939-1966

This extremely popular Argus was nicknamed “The Brick” because  of its shape and the fact it was very durable and reliable. I think the length of its production speaks to that.

Spartus Six-Twenty. A grey dual lens style camera. Red letters spell out "Spartus Six-Twenty"

Spartus Six-Twenty circa 1940s

Metro Cam. A small black rangefinder style camera. Around the lens is a small silver metal plate reading "Metro Cam" with scroll detailing.

Metro Cam circa 1940

Kodak Brownie Flash Six-20. A small black square camera.

Kodak Brownie Flash Six-20 circa 1940

Kodak Vigilant Junior Six-20. A medium, black bellows style camera.

Kodak Vigilant Junior Six-20 circa 1940-1948

Argoflex E. A black dual lens camera with silver trim around the lenses. Silver text across the top reads "Argoflex"

Argoflex E circa 1940-1948

Kodak Brownie Reflex Synchro Model. A silver and black dual lens.

Kodak Brownie Reflex Sychro Model circa 1941-1952

Color-Flex. A maroon and cream dual lens camera. Text around the lower lens reads "Color-Flex"

Color-flex circa 1947

Graflex Pacemaker Speed Graphic. A large square bellows camera in black and silver. A large flash attachment is on the left.

Graflex Pacemaker Speed Graphic circa 1947-1955

This style of Graflex was standard for photojournalists, as well as advanced hobbyists. This particular one was a gift from my dad to Patrick, and is said to have belonged to the Nevada State Police. If that is true, who knows what sort of photos it took! It appears to be in working order, however we have not gotten around to procuring film for it.

The flash attachment for the Graflex. It is long and silver.

If you think you’re looking at a lightsaber hilt, you’re not wrong! The original lightsabers for Star Wars were built around the flash attachment from Graflex cameras.

Spartus Full-Vue. A black dual lens camera with a silver deco front.

Spartus Full-Vue circa 1948-1960

This particular camera features a body made of bakelite, and various sources note that if it is a bakelite body it was produced earlier in this wide time frame.

Argoflex Seventy-five. A black and silver dual lens style camera.

Argoflex Seventy-five circa 1949

View Volume 2!

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5 comments on “Patrick’s Camera Collection Vol. 1”

  1. So interesting. What a wonderful collection. Some of the cameras are the same as my family and I used. I’m hoping the next article has the Brownie Hawkeye which I owned after working all summer for the money to buy it. I spent all my allowance and babysitting money on film, flashbulbs and developing.

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  4. I took my first pictures in the mid ’50s with a Kodak Brownie “box” camera very much like the No. 2 Brownie in your first illustration. I remember some of the details like the metal winder, the viewfinder, the decorative border lines on the sides, and how the slotted leather handle fits on the buttons on the top. Many thanks to you both for sharing your talents and making these trying times a bit easier to endure.

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