Early 1940 ad for a 16mm B&H Filmo camera
Toronto. Bell & Howell was a respected name in Hollywood movie equipment. For home movies, they used the “Filmo” brand. In the March 1940 issue of Popular Mechanics, B&H advertised both the 8mm and the 16mm versions of their Filmo line. For 16mm, the camera film could be changed mid reel in daylight for B&W or colour (16mm Kodachrome had been released just a few years earlier).
That year, much of the world had been drawn into war for over six months. At the time of this advertisement, the USA was neutral while their politicians hotly debated whether or not to join the war effort.
In December of 1940, the attack on Pearl Harbor resolved the debate and America with its might, industry, and money, came to the aid of a struggling Britain, tackling Hitler and Germany on one hand and Tojo and Japan on the other.
This ad is courtesy of my good friend, George Dunbar. George likes photographic history and found the small ad while browsing back issues of Popular Mechanics.
