"Ensignette" Camera

'Ensignette' strut camera with leather case by Houghton's Ltd, c. 1909.

The “Ensignette” was an early pocket camera, produced by Houghton Limited in London.

Houghton, known by different names at different points in its long history between the 1830s and 1960s, was a major British manufacturer of cameras and other photographic equipment in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Around 1902 Houghton began offering a new range of compact “Ensign” branded cameras and roll films. At the time roll film was coming into wider use as an alternative to glass plates used on earlier cameras. Film was convenient, easier for amateurs, and allowed the photographer to take several exposures on each roll of film, rather than just one on glass plate.

The Ensignette was launched in 1909 as an even smaller camera than the Ensign. Houghton’s advertised the Ensignette as “the neatest, daintiest camera that has ever been made.” It folded down into a small box shape that would fit into a pocket, making it very convenient to carry around, but as was also robustly made. Ideal for taking snapshots, the Ensignette became highly popular with a range of users. At first Houghton’s advertised them as the perfect camera for holiday snaps, but with the outbreak of the First World War they promoted them as the ideal gift to soldiers going to war.