Cover of a 1902 patent by Frank Brownell
Toronto. My mom used to make delicious brownies – deep brown and chocolaty like a very dense chocolate cake. Sometimes she would add walnut pieces too! In the late 1800s, Quebec-born Palmer Cox created the Brownies to illustrate his Brownie stories. Canadian-born Frank Brownell had a camera factory in Rochester making well constructed but inexpensive cameras. Kodak bought his talent and production to create many cameras, including the inexpensive line of Kodak Brownie cameras. And in 1902 Kodak bought Brownell’s factory and hired him to continue running it and designing cameras.
In March of 2007, Wayne Morgan spoke to us on “Palmer Cox, The Brownie Craze, and the Brownie Camera“. Many thought the name Brownie came from Frank Brownell making the famous little cameras, but it was a name created by Palmer Cox. Cox was born near Granby, Quebec, emigrated to the States, and as an older man returned to spend his last years in Granby.
My thanks to good friend and photo historian, George Dunbar, for suggesting this idea to me – and the idea of browsing the US Patent Office (USPTO) for photographic insights from the days when ideas were patented for protection. Try to find patent No. 691,592 for starters.
