No1 Brownie Camera Model B
- Materials:
- wood (unidentified) , leatherette and metal (unknown)
- Object Number:
- 1990-5036/2682/1
- type:
- box camera and rollfilm camera
Box camera for 117 rollfilm 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 inches. Fitted with a meniscus lens of fixed aperture and focus. Rotary shutter T/I. Sighting lines on camera top. Accessory clip on reflecting viewfinder. Eastman Kodak. 1908-1915. In original carton with Brownie motif.
No 1 Brownie Model B, Kodak, Eastman Kodak Company, c. 1902.
Fitted with a meniscus lens of fixed aperture and focus. Rotary shutter T/I. Sighting lines on camera top. Accessory clip on reflecting viewfinder. Eastman Kodak. 1908-1915. In original carton with Brownie motif.
George Eastman marketed the original Brownie to be an inexpensive camera for the mass market; when first introduced in 1900, the price of the camera was just $1(about 25p). As well as being cheap, the camera was extremely simple to use, even for children. Eastman named the camera after characters popularised by the Canadian children's author, Palmer Cox (1840-1924), in his series of books and comic strips 'The Brownies', illustrations of which feature on the box.