Category Archives: history

the better to see …

Posted on February 22, 2026 by Robert

Toronto. … you with, said the wolf to Little Red Riding Hood. In the last century, Leitz made close-up devices for the Leica. Both various focussing slide gadgets and mirror boxes used common five power magnifiers code named LGCOO (on … Continue reading →

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oh! to be in Paris …

Posted on February 21, 2026 by Robert

Toronto. The city of light is featured in issue 26-5 in an article by Günter Ott on the AGO exhibit of works by the Parisian photographer Eugène Atget. While the show described took place about a quarter century ago, it … Continue reading →

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The Kinetoscope Castle

Posted on February 19, 2026 by Robert

Toronto. Editor Bob Lansdale in this article writes about visiting the town of Fowlerville, a few miles northwest of Detroit with some MiPHS members. The house he visited has a huge collection of kinetoscopes – and antique audio equipment as … Continue reading →

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being frank

Posted on February 18, 2026 by Robert

Toronto. The cover shot for issue 26-5 is shown at left. The original was taken by Frank Micklethwaite around 1890 when the area was the business district of Toronto. For the cover shot this time, editor Lansdale devotes a full … Continue reading →

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pottering about … again

Posted on February 17, 2026 by Robert

Toronto. In issue 26-5 we learnt about the ‘Potter Lantern’ in Bill Belier’s column. In the same issue, the late Dr Wilson expanded on Charles Potter and his Toronto establishment in his article, “Charles Potter: Toronto Optician and Mathematical Instrument … Continue reading →

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pottering about …

Posted on February 16, 2026 by Robert

Toronto. Issue 26-5 introduces us to a Toronto company selling various scientific instruments such as the Potter Lantern shown at left and described by Bill Belier and Bob Wilson in Bill’s “A Treasure From Two Collections…” column. Bill begins, “About … Continue reading →

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reminiscing again …

Posted on February 2, 2026 by Robert

Toronto. The second ‘memories’ person in issue 26-4 is the late Ronald Anger – charter member #007. Ron was heavily involved in the society in a variety of capacities including president of the PHSC. Ron collected Ernemann cameras and was a … Continue reading →

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another memories article

Posted on February 1, 2026 by Robert

Toronto. Taking a brief break from collecting, we look once again at the column, “Members Memories… from the past”, initiated by late editor Bob Lansdale in volume 25 of the journal to help celebrate our 25th anniversary. The first memory … Continue reading →

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as Horace Greeley once said …

Posted on January 31, 2026 by Robert

Toronto. …Go west, young man. Many photographers did indeed ‘go west’ – in North America, that is. Messrs Palmquist and Kailbourn recently released a “biographical dictionary” of the “pioneer photographers of the far west“. This opus was reviewed in issue … Continue reading →

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a really rare one

Posted on January 30, 2026 by Robert

Toronto. I often mention that wet plate cameras usually self destruct as they are used. In this rare example shown in Bill Belier’s column in issue 26-4 it is described by its present owner – Mike Robinson. Bill begins, “Our … Continue reading →

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