POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

An Eastman Kodak 'Baby Brownie' camera.

Object No. H10198

George Eastman patented his first Kodak camera in 1889 with the slogan: 'You press the button we do the rest'. Over the next century Kodak cameras revolutionised photography by reducing costs and making simple but high quality camera's available to non-professionals. The earliest Kodak's were simple box cameras which were sent to a local dealer after all the shots on the film inside were taken. The dealer developed the film and sent the photographs and the reloaded camera back to the photographer. Kodak realised the real money was in the sale and developing of film and he introduced numerous models to capture the interest of people from all walks of life. While introducing a wide range of innovative features two designs dominated Kodak's cameras. The most famous of these was the Box Brownie, designed by Frank Brownell, and introduced at the cost of one dollar in 1900. Brownie's were produced in one form or another up until the 1960s when the Kodak Instamatic was introduced. The second major design was Folding Pocket Kodak camera introduced in the 1890s. The Folding Pocket camera was highly portable and could be brought in a range of film sizes. Larger negatives such as those found in the No. 4A Folding Pocket Camera were favoured for more professional shots. The smaller Vest Pocket Kodak camera's were introduced in 1912 and were popular with soldiers in World War One. Kodak's Baby Brownie camera had a plastic Bakelite body instead of the metal one usually found on the Brownie range. It also had a folding range finder on the top and a rotary shutter. This camera was produced in the USA between 1934 and 1941. References McKeown, Jim and Joan, Collectors Guide to Kodak Cameras, Centennial Photo Service, 1981 Geoff Barker, November, 2006