Tag Archives: Chicago

hooray for the old B and J

Posted on June 19, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. If you believe this old advertisement from August 1943’s Popular Photography magazine, familiar scenes and family snaps were doubly welcomed by America’s fighting men when taken with a 4×5 B&J press camera or were enlarged with a B&J Solar … Continue reading →

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which twin has the Toni …

Posted on June 16, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Late last century was the hey-day for camera and image collecting. Bargains abounded. New books were published. Old books once destined for garbage became valuable items. Advertisements and other ephemera took on a pricier existence. Old, dusty publications were … Continue reading →

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amping it up

Posted on December 1, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. When I was a school kid in grades 7 and 8 a few years after WW2, I was also an occasional  projectionist for junior classes. We showed 16mm educational movies on (to me) a massive Ampro 20 sound projector. … Continue reading →

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stereopticon

Posted on October 10, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Over the years people have christened their weird and wonderful optical marvels with odd names like “stereopticon” for a mechanical projector of 3D and 2D images. When I looked up the definition of the name in a dictionary, it … Continue reading →

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we usually eat our peppers …

Posted on May 6, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Edward Weston (1886 – 1958) was a famous American photographer. in 1973 I bought a coffee table sized book celebrating 50 years of his work including a biography written by Ben Maddow and published by Aperture Books. The 285 page … Continue reading →

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leaping on the home movie bandwagon

Posted on March 6, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Mansfield Industries made special outfits of 8mm cameras and projectors ready for Christmas. Originally based in Ann Arbor, MI, the headquarters moved to Chicago. This page 88 ad in the November 24, 1961 issue of LIFE  magazine suggests that … Continue reading →

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when is a camera not a camera?

Posted on November 30, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. When it’s a Komic Kamera – a toy handheld  2D viewer for film strips! The size of this viewer suggests 35mm strips. I saw a couple of sites on Google that suggested the little toy was made by different … Continue reading →

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a kludge of clones

Posted on June 20, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. In the late 1930s, a Chicago man embarked on a program to create inexpensive cameras and the Spartus Camera Corporation was born. One of the many cameras to emerge was a bakelite wonder that sold under a variety of … Continue reading →

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an EXCELlent way to entertain before TV

Posted on June 19, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. In the 1930s and 40s we had radio, but what could excite home entertainment like the movies? How about a movie projector and some inexpensive commercial films? Many companies made and promoted home movies. One firm was Excel in … Continue reading →

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movies, anyone?

Posted on January 8, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. Continuing on with the LIFE and movies theme, Bell and Howell of Chicago was a respected professional movie equipment maker. They added a consumer line pre-war (Filmo). Post-war they dumbed down the consumer cameras and ads – the cameras … Continue reading →

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