before TV; before video;

Posted on November 22, 2022 by Robert

a late 1947 ad for Revere 8mm home movie technology

Toronto. … we had home movies. Originally 16mm, during the depression Kodak began selling 8mm versions and post war in a scramble to expand market size and improve image quality, Kodak moved to ‘Super 8’. In the late 1930s, Kodachrome first became available as home movie film, allowing all home movie buffs to shoot in colour.

The December, 1947 advertisement shows a colour 8mm home movie being enjoyed by all. From my point of view, few ‘amateurs’ took the time to script and edit home movies. Such movies became instead a valuable historical record of family life, primarily of scenes and people – of interest only to immediate family members. Today, some historians are beginning to see their value in tracking trends and changes to the way we live.

TV came along after WW2 – after 1952 up here in the great white north. And stills reigned supreme. Then videos became standard fare with the advent of digital technology, Youtube, and smartphones. Today most of us prefer video guides over text and stills as tools to learn new software, do it yourself repairs, gardening, crafts and anything else that needs learning before we succeed at hands on.

The ad used here is courtesy of our good friend (and retired professional videographer), George Dunbar.

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days of war surplus photo supplies and gear

Posted on November 21, 2022 by Robert

1947 Ad for a bargain 16mm
Lektro Jr camera

Toronto. Some of us may remember the days when the local war surplus store had stocks of photo paper, film, chemicals, equipment, etc. at big discounts since the cost was already paid once by tax dollars.

This November, 1947 American ad is for a Lektro Jr 16mm movie camera ($59.95US – cost new over $200.00US) and cheap  Super-X B&W movie film with processing.

Ironically, the American Surplus store was called ‘Fotoshop’… An interesting choice of name for the business – and prophetic – Adobe ‘Photoshop’ software (Mac only) came to market in 1990 a bit over 40 years later.

In the day, I visited surplus shops in Toronto, mainly Hercules on Yonge above Wellesley. Film and paper were my main buys. I still remember the Kodak paper. It came in large rolls about 5-1/2 inches wide and could be cut to size.

Once again, a thanks to my good friend, George Dunbar, for discovering and sharing this record of photographic history going back to the post war era.

 

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a beacon in the dark

Posted on November 20, 2022 by Robert

Nov 1947 ad for Beacon Camera

Toronto. Another American company, Whitehouse Products, in Brooklyn took a shot at the American photography market with its cheap plastic camera, the Beacon.

The Beacon was simply a box camera tarted up like a minicam. It retailed for about 8 years as the Beacon and Beacon II. The specifications suggest it was like Kodak’s Baby Brownie which at least was box-like in shape and sold as a simple box camera.

A lot of different plastic camera models came on market after WW2 but all sank out of sight over a short time as German and then Japanese firms wiped out the aspirations of American camera makers, except models from the mighty Kodak Company.

As you can see in this ad, even a ‘simulated leather case’ was offered – just like the minicams had. Yes, it may have looked like a minicam but at heart it was just a simple box camera – and half frame at that.

I owe a big thanks once again to my good friend and fellow PHSC member, George Dunbar, for finding and sharing this bit of photographic history. By the way, coloured versions went for far more than the plain black models according to McKeown’s 11th editon price guide from 2001/2.

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what goes around …

Posted on November 19, 2022 by Robert

Christopher Creighton and his cameras, shown holding a Kodak #4 panorama camera recently obtained from our past president, Les Jones

Toronto. … comes around. The cirkut cameras must be very attractive to collectors – I have about 10 posts on them. Wednesday, November 16th, we had an interesting presentation on Cirkut and Panoramic cameras and Cirkut kits by Christopher Creighton.

Chris is a practical USER of the cameras, not a collector as such. Lacking a technical background, he relies on the tried and true technique of experimentation until excellent results are obtained.

I learned a lot from Mr Creighton’s talk and the subsequent Q&A session. For example using the black PVC pipes for development tubes; three right angle elbows make a tube light tight; night vision glasses let you load film in complete dark; BUT the glasses must use illumination BELOW the sensitivity curve of the film (many films are IR sensitive); Cirkut cameras have an adjustment for the slit (amount of exposure) on the back; a kit lets you use the camera as a regular camera in the studio by swapping backs and removing the geared tripod assembly; the number and model numbers of the many cameras offered by Kodak; what models were preferred here and in the USA by photographers.

Chris displayed cutting jigs, how to join end papers in the dark,  where to source materials, etc. We hope to have the presentation up on our youtube channel soon for easy access from this web site.

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Larry Towell Book Signing: November 26th, 2022, 2-5pm

Posted on November 18, 2022 by Robert

Mennonite children at play – by Larry Towell. Courtesy of Stephen Bulger Gallery

Toronto. The Stephen Bulger Gallery announces a book signing by Canadian photographer and author, Larry Towell on the 26th of this month. Anyone around the GTHA on the 26th should drop by Stephen’s gallery in Toronto and meet photographer Larry Towell. Any PHSC member who visited the AGO and its photography collection pre COVID most likely saw Towell’s work on display.

The gallery writes, “The Stephen Bulger Gallery is pleased to present a book signing with Larry Towell in the Reading Room gallery, with a selection of works on display. The event will honour the release of the second, revised edition of his celebrated book The Mennonites (GOST Books, 2022).

“Larry Towell photographed the Old Colony Mennonites in rural Ontario and Mexico between 1990 and 1999. The resulting black and white photographs—accompanied by an extensive text drawn from diary notes and ‘the silt of the memory’—formed Towell’s landmark book, The Mennonites, first published in 2000. This revised and updated second edition revisits the project and includes 40 previously unpublished photographs.

“A Selection of books by Towell will be available for purchase including Afghanistan (Aperture, 2014), and The World from my Front Porch (Stephen Bulger Gallery and The Archive of Modern Conflict, 2008).”

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flattened

Posted on November 17, 2022 by Robert

NYC Flatiron building by Steichen

Toronto. Wow! Just over a century ago Steichen photographed the then recently completed ‘flatiron’ building in NYC (so called from its shape – we have a similar building here).

According to the article, “Edward Steichen’s The Flatiron, an iconic photo of New York, has sold for $11.8 million, making it the second-most expensive photograph ever sold.”

Apparently only three prints were ever made by Steichen. The tonality and mood of the print showed that photography could be used for artistic rendering. A fine example of the ‘pictorialism’  trend of the period.

My thanks to my good friend, George Dunbar, who discovered this article recently on the petapixel website and shared it with us.

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Bob Chambers 1939 – 2022

Posted on November 16, 2022 by Robert

Bob Chambers, courtesy of son-in-law Graham Yeates

Toronto. We were sorry to hear from son-in-law Graham Yeates that Bob Chambers had passed away this November 10th. Bob spoke to the PHSC back in 2011 along with  fellow photographer and speaker, Tom Bochsler, both of the Hamilton/Niagara  area.

It was a memorable night for both the society and our two guest speakers who were very well received. The pair had accumulated well over 100 years of experience in photography.

As mentioned in the obituary, Bob was 83 years old. I personally have fond memories of that evening and the charm and wit of Bob as he showed some of his photos and explained the thinking and reasoning behind each shot. Memorable indeed!

 

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pirates of New York City

Posted on November 15, 2022 by Robert

ad for the Univex Buccaneer 35mm camera

Toronto. Univex (Universal Camera Corp) advertised its Buccaneer 35mm camera in November, 1947, a few years before declaring bankruptcy. Known for their unusual camera designs, the company was said to be ethically challenged. The body of the Buccaneer shown in this Popular Mechanics ad is made of bakelite (usually used for cheap cameras).

To the unpracticed eye, the advertisement’s long list looks impressive, but to one skilled in the art of photography the list is rather long with items either redundant or simply not pertinent to good photography. The use of Bakelite is not mentioned.

My good friend, George Dunbar, spotted this ad and shared it with me. The ad reflects a bit of photographic history from over 70 years ago when American companies tried to beat the post war European and Asian competition.

Note: The post title is a riff on a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta, “The Pirates of Penzance” and couples the camera name and the maker’s supposed practices.

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history in photos

Posted on November 14, 2022 by Robert

WW1 Soldier Arthur Rawlinson from the Junction area in Toronto (west end). Killed in Action.

Toronto. Our co-editor of the Photographic Canadiana journal, David Bridge,  recently sent me a link to a CTV news item called,”Rare photos of 44 Toronto First World War soldiers discovered“.

The glass slides are professional portraits of WW1 soldiers in the Junction area of Toronto. The slides  were discovered in the estate of a Canadian military officer and are now held by Vice President Juan Jose Besteiro  of the Canadian Society of Military Medals and Insignia who was interviewed by Jon Woodward CTV News Toronto Video Journalist.

Once again, we see how photography can add interest to textural history. Some of the soldiers, like Rawlinson, died, some were injured, and others returned unscathed from the Great War. Many are listed in local area churches. Their  portraits were taken by photographer Charles Potter, who had a studio at the time at 191 Yonge St, Toronto. Potter’s studio has long since gone. Interestingly, we have an article in  issue 26- 5 of Photographic Canadiana on instrument maker Charles Potter. One and the same?? Coincidence??

Note: David is an active member of the Junction Historical Society, an area of Toronto familiar to me from various relatives who once lived in the Junction. (My dad often mentioned my grandmother had relatives there and in West Toronto). Without photography, these century old images may never have been captured.

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she’s baaack!

Posted on November 13, 2022 by Robert

WW2 – working to make weapons for Canada. Courtesy of Heritage Mississauga

Toronto. I did a post back on June 2nd noting that the iconic Sunday Antique Market in St Lawrence Hall was closing. I saw in the November 10 Etobicoke Guardian (the local free rag) that Marlene Cook was reopening her Sunday Antique Market (SAM) in the Small Arms Inspection Building (SAIB) just down the road from where we hold our auctions (just the other side of Marie Curtis park in Lakeview – my grandfather once worked there).

The folks at the SAM write on their website, ” In 1940 the site [SAIB] became a large munitions plant, manufacturing rifles and small arms for the Canadian Army through the Second World War. It was a key industry in Lakeview.

“By 1943 the factory employed more the 5300 workers, two thirds of whom were women, playing a major role in the allied war effort during the Second World War and demonstrating their ability in a field that had traditionally been considered “men’s work.” This new role was instrumental in recognizing women’s importance to the workforce in Canada, creating significant change in Canada’s work life.

“The factory, known as the Small Arms Inspection Building (SAIB), was slated for demolition in 2008 and purchased by the City of Mississauga in 2017.

“Located at 1352 Lakeshore Road East it’s a three minute drive from the Long Branch Go Station or a brief 10 minute walk. It’s also a short stroll to the lake for those who want a few moments to commune with nature.”

Some members had tables at the SAM as well as at our events. Drop by and see if you can augment your collection!

 

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