lot 459 is a lovely blue Agfa Ansco folding camera
Toronto. You may wonder what on earth the Japanese art of paper folding has to do with our favourite pastime – photography. Glad you asked. Origami takes a flat object like a sheet of paper and in a few folds, makes a recognizable 3D object. Now reverse this! In the first half of last century, one camera design was the folding camera. A bellows separated the film and lens board for exposure of a subject.
When finished, pressing down on a unique pair of braces collapsed the bellows and lens board into the body of the camera and folded over the lens baseboard to cover the hole the bellows, etc. disappeared into. In fact, Kodak made so many cameras of this design that they are affectionately known as “folders” regardless of the maker.
Other makers used the folder design for cameras (like the Agfa-Ansco camera at left). Everyone needs at least one folder in their collection (I have).
Come on down to our auction this Sunday (see post/poster here). The post includes a frequently updated slide show of the lots as photos are received. So far the slide show has been updated at least seven times! Free admission, free parking, friendly folk, etc.
