colour! colour! colour!

Posted on July 5, 2024 by Robert

Micro camera c1915

Toronto. Like Leonardo before him, a Frenchman came up with all the ways to create colour photography long before technology made them possible. One concept was to catch the image simultaneously on three B&W plates, each plate exposed through a filter.

This dream came true when plates could be made sensitive to a wider spectrum of visible light and cameras like the Hicro came to market.

In our journal, issue 38-1 (May-June 2012) editor Lansdale explains, “Our cover [see photo at left – adjusted with Topaz Photo AI] depicts a small camera from 1915 wherein Henry Hess and Frederic E. Ives tried to introduce a more simplified colour camera to the market.

“It produced three separate B&W separation negatives through a most ingenious system of mirror [and] tri-pa[c]k plates. It came to an end when America entered the First World War in 1917. See the full revelation starting on page 5.”

Bob found his Hicro camera in October, 2011 at the PhotoHistory Symposium down in Rochester, NY. The detailed and well researched article beginning on page 5 of this issue  was read in hard copy by members back then  – or if members joined more recently, on their personal DVD which we mailed (covers Photographic Canadiana volumes 1 – 40). Not a member? Just follow the steps to the right, or view the MEMBERSHIP menu item above. Sign up and the DVD will be sent to you via Canada Post. Note: both hard copy and the DVD version have some colour photographs created by the camera!

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a cheesy story c1870

Posted on July 4, 2024 by Robert

cheese boxes c1870 – tintype from LAC collection

Toronto. First, let me say a happy July 4th to our friends south of our border on behalf of the PHSC! Enjoy your holiday, folks.

The photos of box making in the 1870s are interesting in many ways: a record of work; taken by natural light (indoor shots); and taken as tintypes. Today, boxes or packings are made of other materials, not wood. Image collectors seek out scenes of workshops, factories, etc.

The tintype, an offshoot of wet-plate, dry-plate photography (the collodion process) is very cheap to make and strong enough to mail but most collectors have a few kicking around.

The ones in this article are unique and were added to the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) collection. The workshop shown was in a small Ontario village (100 souls in the 1870 period) and the workshop was identified by other photographs. The photographer who took the tintypes remains a mystery.

Editor Bob Lansdale explains in issue 37-4 of our journal (early 2012), “The information is in the detail. The larger this picture is increased then the better the details of information gleaned in regards to the making of cheese boxes in Maberly, Ontario in the 1870s.

“Tintypes are a rarity when it comes to recording industry so Guy Tessier of Library and Archives Canada chose these images as a highlight of his career during 33 years at the LAC. You will find the full story on page 4 with three pages devoted to the story.”

The detailed and well researched article on the box making tintypes is in issue 37-4 as notes earlier. Issue 37-4 was mailed to the members back then  – or if members joined more recently, on the DVD we mailed (covers Photographic Canadiana volumes 1 – 40). Not a member? Just follow the steps to the right, or view the MEMBERSHIP menu item above. Sign up and the DVD will be sent to you via snail mail.

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and the bridge came tumbling down …

Posted on July 3, 2024 by Robert

Niagara Arch bridge footings on American side crushed by ice flow in early 1938 – courtesy Gibson Library, Brock University

Toronto.  Editor Bob Lansdale received an email from England and began a search for a mysterious bridge.

Bob writes, “The monster footings to the Steel Arch Bridge at Niagara Falls, built in 1897-98, proved to be the down fall of the structure when in January 1938 a build-up of ice swept away the footing on the American side.

“Starting on page 15 we have a story by John Marriage, editor of Photographica World – journal of the Photographic Collectors Club in Great Britain, who purchased a mystery image in an antique shop in Devon, England. Unable to identify the bridge, Marriage turned to members of the PHSC for assistance to trace the history of the bridge.”

Image collectors well know the value of photography to record earthly disasters – iconic or  mundane – and strive to discover the stories behind their photographs. If you have one in your collection, drop me a line (info@phsc.ca) and I will let our editors know (there may well be a journal story in the photo).

It truly is a small world! Issue 37-2 with the full story was mailed to all paid members back then (more recent members can read the story on their DVD (covers Photographic Canadiana volumes 1 – 40). Not yet a member? It’s easy – just follow the steps to the right, or view the MEMBERSHIP menu item above.

Note: The post title is from a song penned by one of my favourite Canadian singers – Stompin’ Tom Conn0rs. The song is a memorial to the 19 souls who died out in Vancouver when the bridge at Berard Inlet collapsed in a wind storm in 1958 during its construction. Here’s Tom singing his song.

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Trunk Sale this Sunday July 14, 2024

Posted on July 2, 2024 by Robert

OK folks, our popular Trunk Sale is July 14th this year at the Trident Hall (rain or shine). Visit from 8 am ’til noon. Want a space? Have a question? Drop Clint a line fair@phsc.ca 

 

PHSC Summer Trunk Sale this July 14th

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1867 and all that

Posted on July 1, 2024 by Robert

Possibly the first daguerreotype produced in Canada, Niagara Falls by Hugh Lee Pattinson, 1840

Toronto. … to paraphrase a bit of “British history”  (1066 and all that). We are fortunate that photography was invented years before 1867 when the Dominion of Canada was formed.  The British North America Act(s) combined the British colonies of Canada East (Quebec), Canada West (Ontario), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into the Dominion of Canada in reaction to the American civil war. The act(s) set the stage for other colonies to join the Dominion, We celebrate July1st each year now as ‘Canada Day’.

The photo at left by Hugh Pattinson is believed to be the first photograph ever taken in ‘Canada’ – some 27 years before we became a country. At the time Niagara Falls was in the colony of Upper Canada, shortly to become Canada West and then the Province of Ontario.

Image collectors  who know their history seek out such rare pre-confederation photos taken in the future Dominion.  Have a great holiday everyone, and remember the significance of July 1st, 1867.

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the mystery of Frankie D

Posted on June 30, 2024 by Robert

A cased Ambrotype portrait c1862 with a mystery

Toronto. The next step after the Daguerrotype was the use of glass plates. Initially glass plates used a wet solution (wet-plate) and years later a dry solution (dry-plate).

To make the sensitized emulsion ‘hold’ to the glass, a sticky mixture of guncotton was used (collodion). Guncotton itself was a liquid mixture of cotton and some acids.

A spin-off of the wet-plate process was the Ambrotype – a cased image using the wet-plate to replace the Daguerreotype and allow other photographers to compete with the Daguerreotypists  using the less expensive Ambrotype process.

A way down south (dem ol’ cotton fields of home) in Atlanta GA, the Daguerreian Society held its convention. There, one member asked another attendee (PHSC editor Bob Lansdale) a curious question: “What does Canada West mean?“. It turned out he had an Ambrotype complete with the packaging and label addressed to someone in Hamilton, Canada West (now Ontario). Bob photographed the cased Ambrotype and its packaging.

Bob writes, “A chance meeting this fall at the Daguerreian Symposium in Atlanta GA, brought forth the query from Robert Lisle of Hardeeville, South Carolina as to what Canada West meant. It was part of a script label on a box containing an ambrotype of a gentleman mounted in a thermoplastic case. I was intrigued as here I had a lead to a Canadian story.

“The hand-written label was addressed to a mysterious Frank D???, Hamilton, Canada West.

“I was allowed to photograph it thoroughly so back home I hit the library and found there were very few Franks. But persistency paid off as the 1862-63 Hamilton street directory provided a Frank Dunn, listed as a wine and spirit merchant. See page 20 for more details.”

Wow! What an interesting find! Of course issue 36-3 with the full story was mailed to all paid members back then (more recent members can read 36-3 on their DVD (covers Photographic Canadiana volumes 1 – 40)). Not yet a member? It’s easy – just follow the steps to the right, or view the MEMBERSHIP menu item above.

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the palmer papers

Posted on June 29, 2024 by Robert

Daguerreotype from Cameron family fonds – taken by Eli Palmer c1850

Toronto. Eli Palmer was a Canadian photographer who created many Daguerreotype portraits.A Wikipedia article here covers a broad range of Canadian photographers including one very very  brief mention of Palmer.

Our late editor, Bob Lansdale introduces the research into Mr Palmer as spanning two journal issues (36-2 and 36-4). Bob states, “Beginning on page 6  [36-2] we commence our feature article tracing the history of photographer Eli J. Palmer who arrived in Toronto as a Daguerreian artist in 1849. Ryerson [now called TMU] Photo Arts student Alana West, completing the Photographic Preservation course, has pulled together facts and illustrations for an essay on this early Canadian photographer who remained in business until 1878.

“Palmer quickly rose to prominence and was noted in 1850 as one of the fifty most prominent men in Toronto. Leading social personalities and politicians came to his studio to have their images recorded for history. We have enough material to continue the story in Part Two which will be published in our next issue of December [actually in the 36-4 issue, not 36-3].

The detailed and well researched articles on Palmer in issues 36-2 (by Alana West) and 36-4 (Robert Lansdale and Graham Garrett) were  mailed to the members back then  – or if members joined more recently, on their DVD (covers Photographic Canadiana volumes 1 – 40). What? Not a member? It’s a snap – just follow the steps to the right, or view the MEMBERSHIP menu item above.

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full circle

Posted on June 28, 2024 by Robert

patent drawings and Cirkut camera (camera photo courtesy Bill McBride)

Toronto. Group photos have always been a challenge. In Photographic Canadiana issue 36-1 dated May-June 2010, our late editor Bob Lansdale covers two things near and dear to him: group photos with special cameras; and Canadiana.

This issue includes a detailed article by the late Bill McBride, “Evolution of the No. 10 Cirkut Camera”; an obit about Bill McBride who passed away in late 2009 down in California; “The Inventors of the Cirkut Camera and its parts…” by Bob Lansdale, including the Canadian connection; plus a photograph of  the “Monster sized panoramic prints as they were found under the attic flooring of the Ontario Legislature buildings”.

Bob introduces Mr McBride as follows, “Bill McBride is considered the best source of information about the Cirkut camera as he has researched and written for years about this exceptional panorama camera which altered the history of photography. Capable of recording a full sweep of 360 degrees of the horizon it was used to photograph great crowds of people on one long strip of film.

“Beginning on page 10 we reprint an article by Bill McBride that was published in the Graflex Historic Quarterly and also in The Photographist. We follow it with biographies of three of the men who pooled their inventions to produce the first Cirkut camera in 1904.”

The articles on the Cirkut camera are in issue 36-1 mailed to all members back then  – or if members joined more recently, on their DVD (covers Photographic Canadiana volumes 1 – 40). Not a member? It’s easy – follow the steps to the right, or view the MEMBERSHIP menu item above.

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serendipity

Posted on June 27, 2024 by Robert

W. Butcher & Sons Ltd. “Empire” Home Kinematograph, c.1905 – photo by Bob Lansdale

Toronto. Movies began with small machines at penny arcades, home movie projectors and finally movie theatres. Our resident movie expert, the late Robert Gutteridge, amassed a collection of old movie cameras, projectors, etc. An author of both books and articles, Robert was a retired teacher and frequent exhibitor at our fairs.

Robert recounts how he acquired the beautiful instrument at left in an article titled, “An Encounter With Serendipity” in the early 2010 Photographic Canadiana. His story begins, “Being an avid eBayer, while seeking cinematographic equipment in mid-July of 2009, to my delight I stumbled upon an early 35mm combination moving-picture/magic lantern projector announced as “c.1895 Warwick Cinematograph Slide & Movie Projector & Case.”

“From my knowledge of early ciné? equipment, I knew immediately that not only the date was too early, but also that the machine could not be a Warwick Trading Co. (Charles Urban) “Bioscope.”

“Suspecting it to be of English origin, I investigated all well-known English cinematograph manufacturers of the early 1900s, and despite being without a name-plate, usually located on its lamp house above the side door, I determined it to be a W. Butcher & Sons Ltd. “Empire” Home Kinematograph, c.1905.”

Robert’s story continues in issue 35-4 where members can read the rest of the article – or if members joined more recently, on their DVD (covers Photographic Canadiana volumes 1 – 40). Not a member? It’s easy – follow the steps to the right, or view the MEMBERSHIP menu item above.

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numero uno

Posted on June 26, 2024 by Robert

The UNA Traveller, a c1927 field camera featured in John Kantymir’s column.

Toronto. This c1927 British field camera, ‘The UNA Traveller‘ is well named. The robust yet light construction meant it was reliable world wide – from jungle to desert to arctic.

In his column for the early 2010 issue of Photographic Canadiana, John Kantymir begins, “Long ago my father, Bill Kantymir, and I created a “Wish List” of cameras that were either historically significant or highly unusual – the Una camera is both.

“It is made of Duralumin which was developed for the skeleton framing of the Zeppelin air-ship where light weight was a must. The camera was perfect for the tropics or anywhere – hence the name Traveller.

“I purchased it overseas and believe it to be from the collection of Michael Auer. Its image can be seen in his book.”

John’s story continues in issue 35-4 where members can read the rest of the column – or if members joined more recently, on their DVD (it covers Photographic Canadiana volumes 1 – 40). Not a member? It’s easy – follow the steps to the right, or view the MEMBERSHIP menu item above.

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