The Henry Morgan Collection

Posted on March 27, 2025 by Robert

Lady Houston-Boswall (Phoebe Mary, third daughter of Sir Hugh Allan of Montreal) is posed by the Alice Hughes studio in London, England.

Toronto. Have you ever heard of “The Henry Morgan Collection of Photographic Portraits”? No? In issue 22-4 member Thomas Ritchie wrote an article on the collection. He begins by saying, “A large collection of photographs of eminent Canadians, held in storage for more than 80 years, following the collector‘s death, has been sold at auction in Ottawa, along with letters, documents, maps, paintings and other items from the Victorian era of Canadian life.

“The collector was Henry James Morgan who was born in Quebec in 1842, the son of a soldier of the Napoleonic wars. His father died when Morgan was five years old. At the age of eleven he secured a job with the civil service of Canada which he held until his retirement in 1895, except for a brief period in 1861 when he was a college student.

Morgan became a resident of Ottawa when it was selected as the nation‘s capital. After retirement he moved to Brockville where he died in 1 913. Morgan‘s considerable talents were displayed early in life at age 18 with the publication of his book on the Canada/U.S. tour by the Prince of Wales (1860).

“Two years later, he published two more books, “The Canadian Parliamentary Companion” and the first of several biographical books that he prepared about eminent Canadians and other prominent persons having connections to Canada.

“At age 31, Morgan took to an additional profession when he was called to the bar of Ontario and Quebec; eventually he prepared “The Canadian Legal Directory” ( 1878). His studies in literature, history, politics and law brought him membership in learned societies and he received honourary degrees from several colleges and universities. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. …”

Members read the rest of Ritchie’s article in the pdf file for issue 22-4 on the free members-only DVD. See above or at right to join. Questions or suggestions can be emailed to Lilianne at member@phsc.ca. Visit our 2025 events (see EVENTS PHSC at right) discover even more items for your collection.

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rock of ages

Posted on March 26, 2025 by Robert

c1892 Premier field camera and accessories

Toronto. One of the first old cameras I acquired was a lensless field camera made by the Rochester Optical Co. I was given a lenses (in a shutter) later in Montreal which I added to the camera using a home-made lens board. I later learned that one of the companies absorbed by Eastman-Kodak was the Rochester Optical Company.

In issue 22-4, Dr Robert Wilson stepped away briefly from stereo and books to write a short article on the donation of a c1892 Rochester Optical field camera (Premier) and accessories once used by Canadian photographer Frederick Pole of Mitchell and later Toronto, Ontario.

Bob ‘s article titled, “Rochester Optical Camera Donated to the Society” is as follows, “A recent addition to the archives of the Photographic Historical Society of Canada is a 4×5 Premier Folding Camera manufactured around 1892 by the Rochester Optical Co.

“This is a wooden camera covered with black leather. measuring 173 mm high, 167 mm wide and 188 mm deep. The front panel opens revealing a very attractive mahogany bed and lens board, trimmed with brass fittings and holding the original Rochester  Optical Co 4×5 Premier brass lens. The lens board is connected to the camera with a maroon bellows. Within the lens is a Waterhouse rotating ‘F ‘ Disc which provides four different apertures.

“This camera is an early model which has a shutter builtin to the lens board. A hinged lid at  the back gives access to the ground glass and storage space for three double dark slides. The Rochester Optical Co identification label is discreetly hidden inside this compartment. On the very back of the camera is a small door that can be opened to access the ground glass for focusing.

“This camera was owned and used by Frederick H.G. Pole who was born in Mitchell, Ontario in 1875 and later moved to Toronto. He married and had five children. This camera was donated to the PHSC by his second eldest child, Mr. Howard Pole, currently of Toronto.

“Also included in the donation were other items originally used by Frederick Pole: a wooden tripod, a 5×7 inch Rochester Optical Co printing frame with a 1 – 12 counter on the back, a wooden negative drying rack, a candle operated dark room lamp with several spare candles and a package of Metol–Quinol developer.

“The final part of the donation consists of thirteen, 4×5 inch glass negatives taken with this camera. Most of these negatives show the photographer’s wife Adeleine. and their five  children. Freda, Howard, Dorothy, Constance and Audrey, taken about 1910–191 5.

“The PHSC thanks Mr. Howard Pole for the donation of these items, and PHSC member Bill Belier who did some restoration work on the camera.”

Members read Bob’s article and saw his illustrations in the issue 22-4 pdf file on the members only (free) DVD. See above or at right to join. Email any questions or suggestions to Lilianne at member@phsc.ca.

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a way to get some old photos

Posted on March 25, 2025 by Robert

old photos auction in next few weeks. Above, left is a sample lot showing two ladies of the early-mid 1800s

Toronto. One of our exchange societies, The Daguerreian Society, raises funds via commercial announcements of auctions. Two are occurring  in the next few weeks in collaboration with Canada Book Auctions.

While these auctions take place in Toronto, check which currency is quoted (especially if you see something for your collection). Session 2 clearly states USD, while I don’t see any specific statement for session 1 although it likely is USD as well.

Of course our spring fair is coming up (May 25th) – again there will be lots of ideas and objects to complete your collection.

The dates for the spring and fall PHSC auctions have not been set as yet. Check out the right side under “PHSC EVENTS” frequently.

The following is a paid announcement from

2 Photography Auctions, Starting This Week

FINE PHOTOGRAPHS: SESSION 1
Thurs., March 27 at 11 am ET

FINE PHOTOGRAPHS: SESSION 2
Thurs., April 3 at 11 am ET

Canada Book Auctions in partnership with Rare Photo Gallery is pleased to announce an exciting PAIR of Photography Auctions, including material from the collection of Larry Gottheim and inventory of Be-Hold Inc., with select additions from estates and collectors.

FINE PHOTOGRAPHS: SESSION 1
Thursday, March 27, 11 am ET  

Session 1 to include fine 19th and 20th century photographs by master photographers, including early salt prints and calotypes, nude photography, Hollywood  photography, colour photography, signed and limited edition prints, from pictorialism to the 1970s, plus photographic literature.

FINE PHOTOGRAPHS: SESSION 2
Thursday, April 3, 11 am ET

Session 2 to include an important collection of cyanotypes, as well as 19th century travel and vernacular photography, photo albums, 20th century silver prints, lantern slides, tintypes, ambrotypes, and a nice selection of daguerreotypes.

These are LIVE VIDEO AUCTIONS conducted on SEPARATE PLATFORMS; you must register separately for each auction.

Please visit LiveAuctioneers here to register for Session 1.

Please visit HiBid here to register for Session 2.

Condition reports and additional images available upon request.
Click here to view Session 1
Click here to view Session 2
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another archive for photo collectors

Posted on March 24, 2025 by Robert

Cottage Interior – National High School Orchestra Camp Interlochen, Michigan- from David Tinder collection, U of Michigan Library

Toronto. MiPHS member and good friend of many PHSC folk, Cynthia Motzenbecker, sent this copy of Anne Bennington-Helber’s email message to the PHSC and others: “I wanted to share the GREAT news that the real-photo postcard series from the David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography is LIVE.

“Emi and her team have done a great job coordinating this massive project and we’re so excited to make this AMAZING collection available online.  Thank you for all your contributions and support of this endeavour.

“As Clayton shared with me this morning, Dave would be impressed by this news.  Feel free to share with the Michigan Photographic Historical Society.”

As we are a member of our sister society across the lake, we are delighted to promote this resource at the University of Michigan Library. You can leap right in to the archive content here. The U of M Library plans to upload all of the Tinder Collection of historic photographs once they are scanned (some 100,000+!).

One word of caution, the University quotes its copyright standard as follows, “The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes. These materials may be under copyright. Where possible, we indicate more about our rationale for hosting these materials on the item pages. If you decide to use any of these materials, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission.”

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not Kit Carson

Posted on March 23, 2025 by Robert

portrait of Walter Carsen c1996 by Robert Lansdale

Toronto. As camera collectors, did you ever wonder how the instruments you cherish and lust after made it here as new products to be marketed by retail shops across our nation? For example, I recall the late Bill Belier telling me J F Hartz imported optical instruments wholesale including Leitz microscopes.

When Leitz introduced the Leica camera, Hartz decided not to import their cameras or camera lenses. Walter Carveth stepped into the breach becoming the importer of Leitz cameras and accessories along with Minox products, etc.

Bill himself (after WW2) was a rep for camera products, eventually becoming president of a small private importer. In issue 22-4 of the journal, Bob Lansdale wrote up his interview with a retired Walter Carsen. The article is titled, “50 Years Ago” and covers the saga of the post war camera import business in Canada in general and the Carsen group in particular.

Bob begins his report, “At the end of the Second World War in 1945 and with the return of troops to civilian life, there was a need to find consumer goods to fill the empty markets.

“In the photographic field, locating new equipment initiated a scramble to establish Canadian companies who could import and distribute scarce products that could be found throughout the world. During the war “the camera exchange” was the only source to purchase useable equipment that had been traded in by others.

“In 1946 Walter Carsen, being demobilized from the Canadian. Army, had to decide how he was going to make a living. He had the luck to accompany a delegation of the Toronto Chamber of Commerce as it toured Europe. It was during this trip that Walter renewed business contacts with some of the manufacturers in France, Germany and England whom he had known prior to the war when he was a binocular distributor.” …

Members read the rest of Bob’s report – and all of issue 22-4 in the relevant pdf file on the free members-only DVD. To join, see the notes above (under MEMBERSHIP menu item) and at the right. Any questions, just email Lilianne at member@phsc.ca.

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hi yo silver …

Posted on March 22, 2025 by Robert

a bottle of silver nitrate

Toronto. … as the Lone Ranger called to his white steed. My buddy and I used to listen to the radio program featuring the adventures of the Lone Ranger back in the late 1940s. Which brings us to the metal silver. It is the strange light sensitivity of silver salts that gave rise to our favourite art years ago across the sea.

In issue 22-3 Ev wrote an interesting article on silver and silver nitrate  (I too have a small bottle of this silver salt that was famous for staining the fingers of unwary amateurs back in the mid 1800s (wet plate era). Ev’s article is simply titled, “Consider Silver” and begins, “Without exploitation of a property of this lustrous, relatively scarce metal it‘s unlikely that the benefits of photography would be ours to enjoy.

“The first record that we know was written about 3600 B.C. The discovery was made probably in the eastern Mediterranean and that the metal was found in its native state about 3000 B.C. An early metallurgist separated Silver from Lead, with which it is often  associated. The Latin name, Argentum, remains with us in the chemical symbol Ag.

“Considered by chemists a noble metal, the language of commerce terms it precious. Scarcity is shown by its number in the order of abundance, number 63, since it exists in the earth ‘s crust in 0.000001 to 0.0001 per cent.

“Three quarters of Earth ‘s supply is found in nature combined with copper and lead, so it is a mining by-product. In Canada such by–product mines are found in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Yukon, with primary producers in Cobalt, ON and Great Bear Lake, NWT. The ductile metal, which is our best conductor of electricity and heat, is not found in Alberta. The important producing countries now are Mexico, Russia, Peru, U.S.A., Canada, Australia, and Poland.

“Sterling silver contains 7.5% Copper. A few years ago it was in much favour for tableware. Tarnish by gases in the air has lead to replacement by stainless steel. In Canada silver coinage was discontinued for general use in 1968.

“Like other precious metals (Gold, Platinum) it is weighed by Troy measure. There are 12 oz. to the pound (373.25 grams). At time of writing [1996] 100 and 1000 ounce bars are available at $7.35 per ounce in Canadian funds; refinery price is $6.92.”

Of course members read all of this article and more in the issue 22-3 pdf file on the free member-only DVD. Follow the membership note above or to the right. Questions? Email Lilianne at member@phsc.ca.

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Brodie’s Machine

Posted on March 21, 2025 by Robert

Brodie’s rear projector

Toronto. Brodie Whitelaw (photographer) was well known to professional photographers in Ontario, especially past-editor Ev Roseborough. Brodie spoke at our May, 1989 meeting displaying a sampling of his skill via many beautiful prints. Born in 1910, Brodie died decades later in 1995.

In issue 22-3, Ev wrote a fine article called, “Brodie and his Wonderful Machine”. It was a tale partly of Brodie’s life, the growth of commercial photography,  and Brodie’s experimental machine that barely predated decent Macs with colour screens and software to retouch images.

I wrote the following on Ev’s article for the web site: “Brodie Whitelaw was one of Canada’s great commercial photographers and a contemporary of Ev Roseborough. In this article, Ev covers Brodie’s career, and at the same time gives an insight into the growth of commercial photography in Canada.

“Late in his career, Brodie spent a dozen years in a labour of love on his ultimate tool for commercial studio shots… a rear projector with incredible light power. I had an opportunity to see the instrument in Ev’s studio earlier this year — You can see it too at the fall fair this October [1996].

“Before Brodie completed the projector to his satisfaction, technology had moved on with front projection and beam splitters, and more recently, computerized image retouching.”

Ev’s story has far more details (and photos). He begins his story as follows, “This is a tale of a period. Some seventy years, 1925 to 1995 more or less. It represents the active life–time, photographically, of Brodie Whitelaw. It also represents much of my own, with close parallels neither of us realised.

“Brodie discovered the lure of the lens and became a devotee of John Vanderpant, famous B.C. pictorialist, (see P.c. vol. 18 No.2). Much of his early soft-focus work resembles that of his mentor.

“Brodie’s parents, residents of Meaford, Ontario, died at an early age. The youngster, after receiving a fountain pen from his fellow students at Maple Leaf School on October 31, 1919, was put aboard the train bound for Vancouver where he was to live with an uncle.

“Graduating from U.B.C. in Arts in 1933, he determined to no longer impose on the resources of his uncle and set out for Toronto. He brought in addition to a portfolio of prints, a considerable knowledge of architecture and mechanical design.

“His ambition was to have studied aeronautical engineering but there were no courses in Canada and only one in the States with fees out–of-reach. This interest became a major factor in determining his future.

You can read all of Ev’s story in the issue 22-3 pdf file on the free members-only DVD. To join or renew, see the appropriate paragraphs above and at right. Problems? Questions? Email Lilianne at member@phsc.ca. NB. Please help us by indicating whether your membership is new or renew.

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the eye looker redux

Posted on March 20, 2025 by Robert

c1929 ad for the tiny microscope. Note the amount of text used.

Toronto. I mentioned in earlier post that we camera collectors sometimes collect other oddball optical gadgets too. In the last issue (22-2) Ev wrote about a 1901 souvenir he discovered amongst Brodie Whitelaw’s gear and suggested it was a Stanhope viewer of sorts.

In the following issue (22-3) Ev reported on the messages he received in response to the article. His latest article, ‘“Mystery within Enigma” solved” covers some of the responses including ads submitted to him. 

Ev writes,”Generous readers from Michigan and California telephoned, wrote and faxed, joining local collectors with explanations about the device shown in the previous issue and I thank them all.

“Bill Carroll of La Entrada, CA, photographed his collection of six with a new APS  [35mm film with a new kind of cassette] camera and explained that the glass block and small lens were one piece. There are slight size variations in the size of Bill‘s brass examples. One is stamped Japan and two have no apertures in the body. Instructions on a box are in Spanish, French and English.

“The larger lens unit is a complete magnifier. Tube length and four apertures allow its use on opaque specimens. The smaller lens and glass block unit produces about 26X magnification of smears on the block face ([PHSC past president] Don Douglas used blood) or an insect or flower petal impaled on the pin which can pass through the body tube.

“Bob Carter‘s scope is also of brass. John Naslanic‘s (MiPHS) catalog sheet [see large illustration at left] is almost a treatise on its use, at half the price, postpaid, of my 1901 model.

“According to definition it is still a ‘Stanhope’.”

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how bright is yonder light

Posted on March 19, 2025 by Robert

A Weston 650 light meter (marketed 1935-1930)

Toronto. One element of a good photograph is correct illumination. Early days of the art saw a variety of charts, tables, and gadgets marketed or offered to aid the budding professional.

From dry plates on, this aspect of the art became critical – especially to the casual photographer. A nice, concise history of light meters can be found on James Ollinger’s website. Worth  a peek!

To better help determine the amount of illumination falling on the subject, some photographers used extinction meters. Their (extinction meters) down fall was the gradual  shift in the eye’s sensitivity to darkness.

In 1935, Weston made a beautiful art-deco meter (see above, left) that had a fancy scale on the left and meter coupled to a selenium cell on the right. The 650 was sold for only 4 years. It was superseded by other ‘improved’ Weston light meters. In the late 1950s, I bought a Weston Master III (looks like the Master II).

Like the 650, the Master III was helpful in daylight as time, clouds, location etc. affected  the amount of light falling on the subject. Unfortunately, at night or indoors, the selenium cell/meter combination lacked the necessary sensitivity –  it could no longer assist the photographer.

A decade later, cadmium sulfide cell (CdS) meters prevailed. The resistance of the CdS varied with the light intensity requiring a battery to function. It was far more sensitive – and much smaller than a selenium cell. Improvements in technology eliminated the lag in response, shifts in readings, etc, leading the way to built-in meters – a practice that continues to this day!

Issue 22-3 was a land mark issue for us in many ways. Bob Lansdale took over from Ev Roseborough and a shift began to revise the journal layout. In particular, Bob was much fussier, insisting on correct contrast of his photographic illustrations in print, detailed proof-reading by others, etc.  Above all, he kept the timeliness, detailed articles, Canadian focus, etc. introduced by Everett.

In issue 22-3 there are a few articles on Weston light meters including a reprint of the 1938 paper explaining the markings on meter’s left hand scale, science behind illumination, etc. In this issue, Ev has officially moved from editor to writer of articles. Members can easily read all the issue 22-3 articles by viewing the issue 22-3 pdf file on the free members-only DVD. Membership is a piece cake – and cheap to boot! See the info above or at right. Questions? Email Lilianne at member@phsc.ca.

And if you are interested in light meters – or any other bit of photographica – visit our 2025 events in the GTA. Date and location are shown at right under PHSC EVENTS for all confirmed events.

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billboard in the bog

Posted on March 18, 2025 by Robert

A Tropo-Scatter Antenna in Labrador c1959 from the back

Toronto. Photo collectors often cherish  outdoor photos and work photos. This image hits both topics, but may be a bit too new for the collecting fraternity. Shown here is a billboard size Tropospheric Scatter antenna from the late 1950s. Microwave frequencies were bounced off the troposphere (about six miles up) and scattered to be received by a similar antenna a few hundred miles away.

The tropo-technology when installed was already too late as within decades it was superseded by satellites, fibre optics, internet, digital technology, etc. Although this equipment photo may be ‘new’ by collecting standards, photographs of the technology deserve to be collected since so few systems were installed (and photographed).

NB: The post title is based on the Ogden Nash parody of Joyce Kilmer’s poem. Nash wrote (more or less), “I never saw a billboard as lovely as a tree, in fact unless the billboards fall, I’ll never see a tree at all…”

Whether you collect images or cameras, or research photo history, be sure to visit our events. See PHSC EVENTS to the right for time and place. Of course a post will be pinned at the top of this page close to each event date,

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