American Optical Co.,
Scovill Mfg. Co., N.Y., Prop'rs
New
Tourists'
Photographic
Amateur Outfit
(No.'s 610-641)
Amateur Photographic Outfit
(No.'s
610-635)
Dry Plate Equipment (No.'s
1-8)
Illustrated Catalogue of General Photographic
Supplies, Thos. H. McCollin
(Philadelphia, PA), 1882, p. 31-32
Below, a camera which may or may not be an
example of Dry Plate Equipment (see notes for discussion). If it
is, it is No. 4, 4x5 vertical (No. 627 above)
Stamp on lens board
Stamp on the rear rail of the base
Manufacturer:
American Optical Co. New York, NY factory This is a model from the early
days of dry plate photography, where the vague name, Dry Plate
Equipment, applies to what would have been three different models in
later years. Dry Plate Equipment
No.'s 1-3 are described
in catalogs: plain and
serviceable (probably basswood).
Since the presence of a folding bed is not
mentioned for these numbers, they likely had non-folding beds. Dry Plate Equipment
No.'s 4-6 are described in catalogs:
mahogany with folding bed, single
swing and focus screw. Dry Plate Equipment
No.'s 7 and 8 are described in catalogs:
plain (basswood again) and
horizontal only, but with
folding bed. These
descriptions are identical to
those of the
American Optical Tourists'
Photographic Amateur Outfits/Amateur
Photographic Outfits., which were designated
No.610 through No. 641. But American
Optical/Scovill had another series of mahogany back-focus, non-tapering
bellows cameras:
AO Apparatus Outfit No.'s
201-203.
The difference between the mahogany Dry
Plate Equipment No.'s 4-6
and the similar design and also mahogany
AO Apparatus
Outfit No.'s
201-203
is that the #201-203 (#203 being also called The
76 Camera) models
had a labor-intensive French
polish wood finish, while the
Dry Plate Equipment had not, and
were merely varnished.
There were probably also differences in wood quality or density, and the
presence of brass edge protectors or wear plates. Like so many examples
from the early years of dry plate photography, the above example camera
is close but not exactly as described, lacking a front rise and a focus
screw. This model is almost
exactly like the
Scovill
Favorite, except that it has been made of mahogany, whereas the
Favorite is made of white wood, sometimes poorly matched.
It may have been dropped due to pressure from the Scovill Favorite about
1885. References:
Back to American Optical
Co. / Scovill Mfg. Co. (alphabetical)
Date Introduced: - ; Years Manufactured: c.1882
- c.1885
Construction: rear
focus via push-pull; no or single swing;
reversing by two tripod mounts or non-reversing; three-piece lens board
Materials: basswood or mahogany body (see
notes); black rubber/fabric non-tapering
bellows; brass hardware
Sizes Offered: #1=4x5; #2=5x8; #3=5x8
stereo; #4=4x5 vertical (more accurately 5x5; it had
a special 4x5 holder which could be attached either horizontally or
vertically without repositioning the camera); #6=5x8 stereo and
single combo.; #7=6½x8½; #8=8x10
Notes:
The Photographer's Friend, 7th ed,
Richard Walsl (Baltimore, MD) Catalog, 1882,
p. 51-52 (as Dry Plate Outfits No. 1-8)
Illustrated Catalogue of General Photographic
Supplies, Thos. H. McCollin (Philadelphia,
PA), 1882, p. 31-32 offers (as New Tourists' Photographic
Amateur Outfit): #610=4x5 rigid bed; #612=5x8 rigid bed; #618=5x8
stereo or single rigid bed; #626=4x4 mahogany folding bed rising front;
#627= 4x5 mahogany folding bed rising front; #631=4.25x6.5 ebonized;
#641=5x8 stereo or single mahogany.
The Photographic Times and American Photographer, Vol. XIV, No. 158,
New Series No. 38, Scovill Mfg. Co., February 1884, ads p. 48 (in an
ad for Wilson, Hood & Co (as American Optical's 4x5 Dry Plate Outfit).
American Journal of Photography 1884-1885,
(as Amateur Photographic Outfits) offers #'s 610, 612, 618, as
above, but also: #625=4x5 mahogany rising front folding bed;
#630=6.5x8.5 ebonized folding bed w/ focus screw; #633=8x10 ebonized
folding bed w/ focus screw; and #635=5x8 mahogany stereo folding bed w/
extra lens board for single
-not in the 1886 American Journal of Photography.
