August 1948 ad for new Spartus cameras.
Toronto. … try and try again! And that is what Spartus did. A new name?A new town? A new camera style? The company began around 1934 in NYC as the Utility Manufacturing Company. It moved to Chicago in the 1940s and became the Spartus line as part of the Spencer Company. They tried box cameras, built-in flash box cameras, 35mm style cameras, twin lens reflex designs, etc. The cameras continued into the 1960s under yet another company – Herold Manufacturing founded by an officer of the Spencer Company.
The cameras had one thing in common. They were all cheaply made. The various cameras usually had bakelite bodies with thin metal in places and somewhat indifferent lenses. The advertisement from page 8 of the August, 1948 issue of Popular Photography shows a couple of typical camera styles used by the Chicago company/ies.
Their film burners of the day never really overcame the mighty Kodak or the more modest Ansco line in pursuit of a vigorous slice of the retail camera scene. The company owner and his wife did become wealthy over time using many loop holes in the law along the way. Today, even collectors are indifferent to Spartus cameras.
