Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

Old Stuff: Complete Course in Modern Photography by the New York Institute of Photography from about 1940. An old flashbulb unit with a card of flashbulbs. Old 35mm camera. Kodak folder pre-1930. Kodak Veirchrome Film. Old light meter. Photography Books: Portraiture Simplified 1941, Home Portraiture and Make-up 1939, and Photography 1903. And finally a Flash Sheet Holder with #1, #2, and #3 flash sheets. These were used before flashbulbs. A photographer would set a sheet of flash paper on the tray and ignite it through a hole in the back of the frame. The paper is coated with a mixture that would basically blow up causing a bright flash. This stuff was rather dangerous to use.

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terryMc Loc: Arizona's White Mountains

The Brownie Hawkeye was the first camera I ever had, back in 1952 or '53. That one is long gone, but I have another I got at a swap meet once. I've misplaced it. It has a crack in the body, so is useless.

As for the rest, I don't go back past '43, but I have a couple of similar items and used a lot of flashbulbs back in the day. ("Blue Dot for Sure Shot...) The old No. 2A Folding Cartridge Hawk-Eye Model B has a bad bellows and I've been told it may be fixable, but it's not worth it to me. Picked it up for $2 or $3 at a swap meet 30 or so years ago. The Kodak Pony is a working camera; I shot a couple of rolls of Portra 400 with it last summer. It was a gift from a grandson for my birthday many years ago. The Sekonic Studio Deluxe II, which I must have had for almost 40 years now, I still use all the time, especially for tabletop.

tramsey Loc: Texas

The only thing I recognize is the Hawkeye Brownie. My first camera and I still have it.

BebuLamar

I have the Minolta View Meter 9. It's suprisingly accurate.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

Is the 35mm camera shown an Ansco or an Agfa? I have a mint Ansco Memar that is the Silette rebadged for Ansco. Also, what size is the Verichrome and its expiration date?

Stan

terryMc Loc: Arizona's White Mountains

You should be asking Bridges, the OP.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

Oooppps! Bridges, if you see this response, excuse my error and respond, please.

Stan

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

While I never worked during that time I do recall hearing about them and enjoy seeing these relics. Unfortunately, I would not use them but place them in a display case.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

The camera you asked about is an Agfa Silette Pronto. The Verichrome is 620 dated 1958. The Kodachrome is 35mm and dated 1958.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

I have a steamer trunk of old cameras and related items. I will post shots of some oldies from time to time. There is one camera in the collection which I have never seen anything like it. I will post a shot of it when it is located. When I said I had a steamer trunk, it was a description of the amount of the collection -- they are not all in one location but rather in several boxes -- some buried under other boxes of clothing or draperies or whatever! I have all the usual collectibles like the Agfa brick, the Brownie, and the early Kodak folders, but there are a few unique items like a genuine Minox spy camera, Chinon, which was advertised as the world's smallest 35mm camera, SX70 Polaroid folder, and other old cameras.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

The large study boo from the Ne York Institute of Photogahy. That school did residential and correspondence courses in practical professional photography. They hey frequently advertised in most of photography magazines.

The teachers were excellent, the courses were practical and to the point. The proof of their effectiveness is he turns out many successful photograher of the day. There were three such schools in New Yor City- NYI, Germain, and the Schoo of Moden Photogahy. My recollections of these schools go back to the 1050s and '60s.

There were no hyperbolic claims in the ads. If you did the work you got the knowledge. If you had the tal you could succeed. I don't know if these are any equivalent nowadays.

The smaller books were common at most public libraries under the Dewey Decmil code of 770. Pretty basic stuff in easy-to-understand language.

The Flas Paper Sheet was an improvement over flash powder. Like today's laundry dryer sheets are more convenient than liquid fabric softeners. You didn't need to measure out of the fash powder for the T-Gun. An excessive amount could cause a firey accident. It was those days' versions of TTL

When I was a kid, I helped clean outhe basement of a defunct camera store. I found a shoe-box-sized package of those envelopes. I took them to school and distributed the envelope to a few friends and we lit them lit them in class. Bad idea- but it was funny athe time, that's until we were all sent to othe "office" and the principal said were we all a bunch of pyromaniacs and "next time" he would turn the matter over to the police.

The Hawkeye was my first KODAK Bakelite twin-lens "medium format" camera. 620 film, drugstore Jumbo prits, not bad for a one-element fixed lens.

The 35mm camera? Can't tell- in the 1950s there were dozens of 35s, scale focus, and viewfinder. Many domestic modes and some from Germany.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

In the two posts above yours, I gave the camera name.

And I can relate to your story about the flash paper. My story only goes back a couple of years. My grandson lives with us and I had some of the screw-in flash bulbs. I put one in a lamp in his room expecting just a big flash when he turned the lamp on. The joke was on me though when the darn thing blew out the circuit. In addition to tripping the breaker, it fried two wall sockets which I had to replace.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

I have my Dad’s Kodak Pony, with which he shot many rolls of Kodachrome of family activities. The shutter is sticky and slow these days. I need to have it serviced, otherwise it is still a nice, clean vintage camera. I picked up a used Studio Deluxe meter at a camera shop in the 70s. IIRC I paid $5 or some ridiculously small amount for it. I noticed later that the serial number had been defaced - I figure it was stolen and the thief unloaded it at the little camera shop for a couple bucks.

Stan

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Of course!

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

Every time I head into B&H I always visit the second floor. They have a mini-museum of items to look at. It is just a fun moment for me!