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1947 ad for Briskin 8 home movie camera

Toronto. Home movie cameras were offered before, during, and after WW2. The top end models were the Bolex line from Europe and the Bell and Howell (B&H) line made in Chicago. Cheaper models were made and sold by Kodak. A Chicago radiator company founded by Russian immigrant Sam Briskin, saw a market for a mid range line of movie cameras and the Revere line was invented and took off (scroll down this Revere link to read about the Briskin camera).

Sam’s middle boy, Ted, decided to compete with the family and produced the Briskin 8 which undercut Revere. Sadly, the Briskin turned out to be a retail flop and was sold briefly around 1947.

My thanks and a tip of the hat to that enthusiastic photographic historian, George Dunbar, for unearthing this ad on a rare camera in the July, 1947 issue of Popular Photography and sharing it with us,

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