Author Archives: Robert

when hype beat reality

Posted on June 24, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. The heady days of the late 1940s! War was over. Pent-up demand for all kinds of goods exceeded supply leading to continued wait lists. Telephones just outside the town took two years for the cables to town alone to … Continue reading →

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dancing on the head of a pin

Posted on June 23, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. For centuries, the expression “number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin” has been around. Originally religious (as you can likely tell), it shifted to ordinary usage and meant arguing absurdities while real issues went … Continue reading →

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hi Norman!

Posted on June 22, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. As a kid I loved reading back issues of the Saturday Evening Post while waiting at Nels MaGee’s for my bi-weekly hair cut.  Most exciting to me was when the cover used a Norman Rockwell painting. The web site, … Continue reading →

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Canadian, eh?

Posted on June 21, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. For the most part, Canada is a nation of immigrants. When I was a kid, we were part of the British commonwealth (to the dismay of Quebecers).* Many of us could trace our roots back to the UK or … Continue reading →

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a photograph to remember

Posted on June 20, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. The other night, my wife and I were watching an old 1933 movie featuring James Cagney called, “Picture Snatcher“. The flick was about a NYC hoodlum who wanted to go straight by being a reporter. He was hired by … Continue reading →

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hooray for the old B and J

Posted on June 19, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. If you believe this old advertisement from August 1943’s Popular Photography magazine, familiar scenes and family snaps were doubly welcomed by America’s fighting men when taken with a 4×5 B&J press camera or were enlarged with a B&J Solar … Continue reading →

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nothin’ but blue skies

Posted on June 18, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Aerial cameras made many images for maps and other critical analysis functions. This camera was manufactured by a company founded in 1927 as the Fairchild Camera and Instrument company. After WW2, when transistors began to take on the functions … Continue reading →

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weegee the famous

Posted on June 17, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Anyone out there who hasn’t heard of Weegee? Arthur Fellig and his trusty Speed Graphic haunted the streets of New York City mid last Century. He was busy beating cops and firemen to the scene and taking newspaper shots … Continue reading →

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which twin has the Toni …

Posted on June 16, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Late last century was the hey-day for camera and image collecting. Bargains abounded. New books were published. Old books once destined for garbage became valuable items. Advertisements and other ephemera took on a pricier existence. Old, dusty publications were … Continue reading →

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look, ma – no hands …

Posted on June 15, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if a zoom lens was invented with the zoom controlled by electricity? Smartphone could off these tiny marvels and a light finger motion could shift the tiny zoom lens’s focal length. PHSC member and friend … Continue reading →

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