ad for April 1951 ILOCA I camera
Toronto. Post war, the photographic industry was awash with inexpensive cameras made in Europe or Japan and sold by North American distributors. An example is the Iloca line made in Hamburg, Germany.
In the April 1951 issue of Popular Photography magazine, the cameras were advertised by the American distributor, Ercona Camera Corporation, on 5th Avenue in NYC. In later years Ercona imported cameras made in East Germany and got into a pot full of trouble with the American government over trademark issues (mainly Zeiss Jena, then in the communist controlled area).
The camera line was well built and often private branded to be sold by large American department stores and catalogue corporations.
My thanks to a good friend and fellow PHSC member for sharing this historical finding with us.
