eye of the storm

BJA 1938 ad for Contax Cameras

Toronto. It was ‘the best of times and the worst of times‘ between the world wars. After the first war, pent-up demand blossomed into unprecedented wealth in the first decade, followed by the worst depression ever in the next (world wide). By the time this ad appeared in the 1938 BJA, the mighty German camera industry which reorganized as Zeiss Ikon in 1926 (plus a handful of high end companies making Leica and Rollei, etc. camera models) was just over a decade old and known throughout the world for value, quality, and design.

The end of the first war saw the rise in Germany of a far right political party that evolved into the notorious Nazi Party. The dirty ’30s depression was an opportunity for Germany to resist the reviled Treaty of Versailles. Germany elected Adolf Hitler as its chancellor in January, 1933. Six years later, Hitler led his country into war against the rest of Europe (Western front) and later against Russia as well (Eastern front).

Many books cover world history last century such as Erik Larson’s 2020 epic on Churchill and the WW2 years called, “The Splendid and the Vile“. The books often offer theories as to the causes of the two world wars which touched almost all of humanity.

For the camera collector, a wealth of books were also published in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The books documented the various camera manufactures and their products. An example is the massive 2015 book by Larry Gubas of Zeiss Historica fame called, “Zeiss and Photography“. At roughly seven pounds and 890 pages, this hard cover heavy weight was published in a limited edition of 400 copies by Friesens in Manitoba, Canada. Out of print and hard to find today, it is a worthy addition to any collector’s library.

This entry was posted in history and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.