My new baby!

I have a new baby!
(Well, new to me!)

It’s an Agfa Isolette II, made in Germany in the 1950s.

I have film in it.

Now, I just have to find a place to get it developed!

An old camera shop?!

On my way to the dentist in the city on Wednesday morning, I saw this camera shop. I was running late, so I couldn’t stop.

I have walked down this street many times and never noticed it before.

What the heck is wrong with me?!

I have to go back there soon!

Ohno Camera Works.

Truth in advertising?

The lady from the new Progressive insurance commercial is using my Hawkeye Brownie camera….

But how is she supposed to take pictures by holding it up to her eye?!

The viewfinder is in the top and you have to hold it at waist-level. And the shutter doesn’t sound like that!

Oh well, there’s no truth in advertise after all.

Vintage Camera series – Agfa Ansco Shur-Shot D6

This is the last post in my series introducing my vintage camera. (The first two are here and here.)

The Agfa is on the far left.

This camera was made in 1932. The faceplate is made of aluminum and the rest of the body is made of wood and cardboard, covered in black leatherette. The leather strap on the top is long gone.

It’s the most basic type of box camera. The rudimentary lens is actually behind the shutter!

So, are you wondering why you’ve never heard of this brand?

In 1928, Ansco (based in Binghamton, New York) merged with the German photo company Agfa into a corporation named Agfa-Ansco. During the period before the US entrance into World War II, the Agfa Ansco business grew enormously. The Agfa-Ansco interests in the U.S. and Binghamton factory was taken over by the US government in 1941 due to its ties with Germany. The company was the last business to be sold as enemy assets to American interests in the 1960′s.

 

The day that I took these photos was very sunny. My sister had come into to town to visit, so we had lunch and went to the local airport to watch the planes arrive and take off. My town’s airport is a tiny, only catering to private planes and jets.

Cute/ugly dog

Small airplane

Everything on roll began looking bizarre.

Clouds(!) on the ground.

The plane again.

The sky at the airport.

Vintage Camera series – Found film from my Kodak Duaflex II

So..! 

Inside of one of the vintage cameras (this one), there was a surprise. 

A full roll of exposed, undeveloped film was waiting to be discovered.

The found film!

It was original Panchromatic 620 rollfilm, made in England, on a regular black metal spool.

No brand markings and no date, but I’m guessing from the late 1950s to the early 1960s.

I bought the cameras on eBay. The seller had bought them at an estate auction.

So!

Let’s see what the pictures tell us!

The first three shots show a desk with books, an American flag, and trophies. There’s a huge florescent lamp and a Boy Scouts of America certificate on the wall.

The photographer seems really proud of these things. Is it the boy or a parent?

The son's desk? The certificate is from the Boy Scouts of America.

In the next shot (Shot 4), a young man (the owner of the desk?) is shown sitting in an armchair. He has a small smile on his face and he’s well-dressed.

He looks alittle embarrassed.

This next picture shows us a dessert spread with graduation (cap and gown) figure. The young man’s graduation?

The plaque on the wall has a prayer that reads; “Home Blessing – The crown of the home is godliness, the beauty of the home is order, the glory of the home is hospitality, the blessing of the home is commitment.” This is an Episcopal prayer. Is the family Episcopal?

We still don’t know who the photographer is!

Dessert table for a graduation party?

In this frame, we get to see the rest of the food spread out over some tables.

Have the guest not arrived yet?

I wonder if the punch was any good!

A party spread.

By the next frame, we get to see more of the family. Judging by the ages of these women, it looks to be the young man’s grandmother and mother. They look proud of him!

Besides, the granny has a great pair of cat-eye glasses. She looks like fun to be around. The boy must be having his high school graduation, because he looks so young.

The son, grandmother, and mother?

A car? Or is it a s mall pickup truck? Was this a graduation present? What decade was this?

So many unanswered questions!

Is this even related to the graduation scene above?

The last photo on the spool is the greatest mystery.

Who is it? Is it the photographer? The father of the boy?

But.

Look at how long his hair and beard are. He doesn’t look like he belongs with the people from the previous picture.

Was this taken at the same time as the other photos? It could have been taken decades later…

Could it be the young man himself, finding the camera years later, discarded and forgotten?

We’ll never know.

Mysterious picture at the end.