Summer 1950 ad for the Range O Matic photo meter by Utilitron
Toronto. There’s an old saying, “one born every minute” attributed to P T Barnum but actually older. The resulting population subset forms the potential audience for the type of gadget advertised in a 1950 issue of Popular Mechanics.
Utilitron, the maker of the “Range O Matic” is careful to state only the attributes of the gadget and let the reader’s imagination fill in the blanks. At $4.95 including tax, the company aimed at the bargain hunters in the would-be photographers’ fraternity. It cost much less than any one of the three instruments it was said to replace.
Sadly, it was nothing more than a clever extinction meter with a few attached nomograms. True light meters like a Weston Master or a GE were more expensive and far more accurate in use. The maker seems to have disappeared into the long night as has the Range O Matic (except the occasional one that is offered to collectors).
My thanks to good friend George Dunbar for spotting this ad from last century and sharing it with us.
