Before Instagram, before Facebook, before iPhone, there was another kind of social media. You would shoot photos with cameras like these American made beauties. Then you would send the film or the camera to the lab (unless you were shooting with a Polaroid). Then you would share the photos with friends and family. Of course you had to be in the same room to do this.
The Ansco #3 Buster Brown Folding Camera, built in Binghamton, New York in 1912 or 1913. It shot postcard sized exposures on roll film.
The SIX-20 Brownie box camera was manufactured by Kodak in Rochester, New York, between May 1933 and April 1941. It shot eight 6cmx9cm images on 629 film. It had two focus zones, "5-10 feet" and "10 feet and beyond". Pretty simple.
This camera was manufactured by Kodak in Rochester, New York in the 1950s. I couldn't determine the exact date. It was a wind up camera and shot Kodachrome film. My guess is you'd need sunlight or a bank of very bright builds to get a correct exposure. That explains why, when you see those old 8mm family films, everyone is squinting.
The Imperial Reflex Camera was made by the Imperial Camera Company in Chicago, Illinois around 1961. It was a plastic camera with plastic lenses and shot 620 roll film, It was the official camera of The Boy Scouts of America. It was also the camera that Marina Oswald used to photograph Lee Harvey Oswald in their backyard. He's holding the rifle that he would later use to assassinate John F. Kennedy.
The Cine-Kodak was the first 16mm movie camera introduced in 1923. This model, the Cine-Kodak BB, was made in 1929. This camera is extremely well built and was very popular with professionals and advanced amateurs. There were very few film of the police pepper spraying students.
The Polaroid Automatic 340 Land Camera, produced from 1969 until 1973, was an instant camera that used pack film. It's probably the closest thing to the instant gratification we get with digital cameras. Of course, the picture from this camera involved chemical reactions, some physical effort and waiting 90 seconds for the image to emerge. It was magic.
The Model 95 is the first of Edwin Land's instant picture cameras. In 1948, The Polaroid Corporation in Rochester, New York made, at the minimum, 1.5 million of this magnificent folding camera. The build quality and materials are beautiful. Thanks Dr. Land!
