1952 ad for the Graflex Ciro 35 camera
Toronto. I’ve noticed over the years that in every industry larger companies buy up smaller ones for a variety of reasons – features, expanded territory, potential, etc. The photographic industry was/is no different as attested by the early years of Kodak.
My good friend and fellow PHSC member, George Dunbar, sent me this interesting link to a Graflex ad in Popular Mechanics (May 1952 issue).
Post war, Graflex added the Ciro camera line to attract ‘modern’ customers who viewed the large traditional Graflex cameras as old fashioned vs the more modern designs that used 120 or 135 roll film.
The Ciro 35 line was touted as a bargain at ‘under $50’. In this way Graflex was suggesting an aspiring amateur could get a better deal by buying a home grown camera. All too soon, the more serious amateur would turn to interchangeable lenses or add-on lens elements to make his camera more flexible – features not offered in 1952 by the Ciro line.
