Hello,
George Eastman started his own company in 1880 manufacturing dry plates.
The story of
Kodak and the story of
Pentax have a particularly curious similarity: Although decades apart, both companies changed their names thanks to a very successful product. In both cases, a camera. The Eastman Company launched the "Kodak" camera in 1888. The Asahi Optical Company launched the Asahi PENTAX camera in 1957. Due to the success of those, The Eastman Company became Eastman Kodak and eventually just Kodak. The Asahi Optical was eventually renamed PENTAX Corporation.
But back to our story:
George Eastman was a business genius when he brought photography to the masses and the average people in the late 19th century and early 20th century, creating a huge unprecedented market. He then focused in a very special market segment: Children! The idea was that if you expose (pun intended) children to photography, they will pick it up as a life hobby, creating a healthy loyal customer base for decades to come. And it worked.
In 1930, the Kodak company celebrated its 50th anniversary. As a promotion and celebration, they came up with an interesting concept: Giving away more than half a million cameras!
Promotions ran in magazines like Boys Life (official magazine of Boy Scouts) and other publications advertising that starting on May 1st, until supplies last or up to May 31st, 1930, any child whose 12th birthday was in 1930 (any month of the year) will be given a free camera and a free roll of film. Even the first lady of the United States, Grace Coolidge, endorsed the promotion. The number of cameras was set at 500,000 in the US. An additional number of cameras were used for Canada, but there are conflicting references about the number. I have seen from 47,000 to 57,000 to everything in between. So somewhere around 50,000 additional units for the Canadian market.
From what I have gathered, they were all gone in the first week or so. There are stories of some dealers depleting their allocation the very first day.
This giveaway camera of course had to be simple and inexpensive. Kodak based it on an already old design: The No.2 Hawk-Eye Model C. This was not a Brownie. It only had one tiny viewfinder and no provision for any adjustment. Just a shutter release. Not even a "Time" function.
To distinguish it, it was a special tan color, golden colored hardware and a gold foil emblem stating the company's 50th anniversary.
Here are some online pictures I have found of the promotions. I can't claim ownership of any of these images. These are from different places like the Brownie-camera.com website which is a great research reference.
Just imagine the logistics of having these in all dealers around the country by that date.
My specimen:
Of course I want one! But I was born 40 years after the promotion
These already 90 years old girls are not particularly hard to find. What is hard to find is one in mint condition. These were used like intended.
So I finally found this one:
It is tired but seems complete. Shutter works which is not surprising. The strap seems to be original but it is shot. The finish is tarnished so I'll carefully start cleaning it.
Started testing mild cleaners with promising results. But there is dark tarnishing that seems to be immune to my tested cleaners. I'll keep slowly progressing on this to eventually run a roll thru it.
Stay tuned!
Thanks,
Ismael
Last edited by ismaelg; 11-19-2021 at 08:14 PM.