American Optical Company
Scovill Mfg. Co.,
Proprietors
Flammang's Patent Revolving Back Camera Back Focus Variation 2.1
(Scovill & Adams era, push-pull focus, swing hinged at the center of the rear standard, and nearly hidden horizontal swing hardware)
Most engravings of Back Focus Flammang's Revolving Back Cameras show a
swing that is hinged at the bottom of the rear standard. This
engraving, which can be found on the back cover of
the 1891 James W. Queen
(Philadelphia, PA catalog
shows a Flammang's Revolving Back Camera Back Focus that has its swing
in the center of the rear standard. The engraving also shows a custom back
made to
accommodate an
Eastman-Walker Roll Film Holder Variation 1.
8 x 10"
Bottom
Top
Celluloid label on front:
"American Optical Co. / New York / The Scovill & Adams Co. Prop'rs".
Stamp on upper lens board: "The Scovill & Adams.Co. N.Y" Note the
odd period between "Adams" and "Co", and the odd lack of a period after
"N.Y".
Stamp on rear of base:
"The Scovill & Adams.Co. N.Y."
Patent Stamp on the revolving
back: "Flammang's / Pat. Aug.21.83 / No 283,589
Patent stamp for the piston&
pocket
device to make the bed rigid
Horizontal swing device (arrows)
operation: pushing the handle to the left causes the locking catch to
lift out of the middle platform slot.
Manufacturer:
American Optical Co. New York, NY factory Scovill / American Optical made a number of
of cone or tapered bellows cameras. The following is an excerpt
from
American Optical/Scovill Back Focus Tapering Bellows Field View Cameras - Chronology and Design
detailing the history of Scovill/American Optical camera models of this basic
type.
Flammang's Revolving Back View
Camera Back Focus Model - Variations:
There are currently
at least five
variations of Flammang's Revolving Back View Camera Back Focus model,
and one counterfeit copy. The differences between the
variations are due to 1) push-pull or rack and pinion focus, 2) whether
the vertical (forward-back) swing is hinged at the bottom or at the
middle of the rear standard, and 3) lacquered brass or nickel-plated
brass hardware:
Flammang's Revolving-Back
View Camera Back Focus
Variation 1.0:
1) push-pull focus having a lever in the rear to secure it, 2) vertical
swing hinged at the bottom of the rear standard (as in catalog
engravings) and 3) lacquered, draw-filed brass hardware. This is
the camera configuration as depicted in the engravings in
American Optical/Scovill
catalogs and other advertisements.
Flammang's Revolving-Back
View Camera Back Focus
Variation 1.5:
same as Variation 1.0, except that it has rack and pinion focus rather
than push-pull focus. Thie example of this Variation also has its
label altered to indicate that it was made for
W.H. Walmsley & Co.
instead of the usual American Optical
and Scovill Mfg. Co.
label. Additional examples will have to be seen of this variation
to know whether the configuration was specified by Walmsley, or whether
the variation was already being offered by
American Optical.
Flammang's Revolving-Back View Camera Back Focus
Variation 2.0:
1) push-pull focus having a lever
in the rear to secure it, 2) vertical swing hinged in the middle of
the rear standard, and 3) lacquered, draw-filed brass hardware.
Flammang's Revolving-Back View Camera Back Focus
Variation 2.1:
same as Variation 2.0
(push-pull focus, swing hinged in the middle), except having a device at
the rear standard that, when pushed, allows horizontal swing. The
example is also later than the Variation
2 examples, in that it was made when
American Optical was
owned by The Scovill & Adams Co. (after 1889)
Flammang's Revolving-Back View Camera Back Focus
Variation 2.2:
same as Variation 2.0
(push-pull focus, swing hinged in the middle), except for 3)
nickel-plated, polished brass hardware.
Flammang's Revolving-Back View Camera Back Focus
Variation 3.0:
1) rack and pinion focus, 2)
vertical swing hinged in the middle, and 3) lacquered, draw-filed brass
hardware. Another camera of interest to
Flammang's Revolving Back Camera
design: References:
Date Introduced: - ; Years Manufactured:
c.1883 -
c.1896
Construction: rear
focus via push-pull; single
or double swing; reversing by revolving back (the Flammang
patent); three-piece lens board
Materials: mahogany body; mahogany base;
black fabric bellows; nickel-plated brass
hardware
Sizes Offered: #550A=4x5; #551=4 ½x5 ½;
#551AB=4 ½x6 ½; #551A=5x7; #551B=5x8;
#552=6 ½x8 ½; #553=8x10; #554=10x12; #555=11x14; #556=14x17;
#557=17x20; #558=20x24; #559=25x30 (1889 #'s 120-132)
Notes: 
The revolving back was patented by Mathias Flammang 21 Aug. 1883 (US
283,589), one of many patents granted to Flammang while working for
Scovill Mfg. Co. The revolving back
could be had either on a back focus or front focus design. It is one of
the longest lived Scovill designs,
being introduced in 1883 (The Photographic Times and American
Photographer, Vol. XIII, No. 149, Scovill Mfg. Co., May 1883, p.
205 ), and carried in catalogs and other advertising literature until
approximately 1898.
Counterfeit Flammang's Revolving-Back
View Camera Back Focus Variation 3.0:
a camera which superficially looks like the genuine
American Optical Flammang's Revolving
Back View Camera Back Focus Variation 3.0, but, in
detail, can be seen to have almost every detail and measurement slightly
different than a genuine
Variation
3.0.
The Photographic Times and American
Photographer, Vol. XIII, No. 149, Scovill Mfg. Co., May 1883, p.
205 (introduction)
Descriptive Catalogue and Price List of the Photographic Apparatus
Manufactured by the American Optical Co., Scovill Mfg. Co.,
proprietors and managers (New York, NY), Sept. 1884, pp.54-55
The Photographic Amateur, 2nd Edition,
J. Traill Taylor, Scovill Mfg. Co. pub. (New York, NY), 1883,
2nd Ed. about 1885, p. a14
Scovill's Photo. Series No. 20, Dry
Plate Making for Amateurs, Scovill Mfg. Co. (New
York, NY), 1886, p. a14
Catalog P, Photographic Material,
J. W.
Queen & Co. (Philadelphia, PA), 1886, p. 75 (As
Revolving Back Camera, Back Focus)
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), distributed by
C.H. Codman & Co. (Boston, MA), April 1887, p.
36
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), distributed by C.H.
Codman & Co. (Boston, MA), September
1888, p. 28
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), distributed by Buchanan, Bromley
& Co. (Philadelphia, PA) Catalog, 1888
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
The Scovill & Adams Co.
(New York, NY), January 1889, p. 27
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
The Scovill & Adams Co. (New York, NY), distributed by Buchanan,
Bromley & Co. (Philadelphia, PA) Catalog, 1889
Photographic Material,
Catalogue O & P, James W. Queen & Co. (Philadelphia,
PA), 1891, p. 61 (as Revolving Back Camera Back
Focus)
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
The Scovill & Adams
Co. (New York, NY), distributed by Horgan, Robey & Co. (Boston, MA),
June 1891, p. 20
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
The Scovill & Adams Co.
(New York, NY), January 1892, p.
20 (as Revolving Back Camera Back Focus Pattern)
How to Make Photographs and a Descriptive
Catalogue of Photographic Materials Illustrated,
The Scovill & Adams Co.
(New York, NY), 1896, p.
34
American Annual of Photography and Photographic Times Almanac for
1897, The Scovill & Adams Co. (New York, NY,
1896, p. lxi ("Bargain Page")
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