Champion Equipment, Variation 1A (tilting ground glass, top swing knob) (c.1886-c.1899)

E. & H.T. Anthony & Co. catalog,  September 1886, p. 7 (as Amateur Equipment 2B for 5x8)

 

5x8 Variation 1A

Photo taken from underneath.  Note the patent hooks for making the bed rigid.

Label, probably nickel-plated brass: "E.& H.T. Anthony & Co. - Manufacturers. - 591.Broadway.N.Y."

Stamps, rear surface of platform frame:  1) "Pat. Nov. 11, '84" (patent hooks for making the bed rigid), and 2) "Pat. Feb. 20, '83" (looks like '88, but is really '83 - plate holder profile).

Stamps, Serial Number "106": on the underside of the rear standard (upper stamp) and on the underside of the front standard (lower stamp).

Stamp, Serial Number "135" on the upper part of the front standard but normally hidden under the part of the standard that can rise or fall.  This means that the same box-like part of the front standard has both "106" and "135" stamped on it.
Note that the four screws holding the horizontal brass strip do not have their slots aligned, nor does the strip have a draw-file finish, such as would be found on the better finished Anthony NPA model camera.

Date Introduced: 1887 ; Years Manufactured: 1887-c.1899
Construction: back focus via push-pull; single swing; reverse by two tripod mounts; plywood lens board
Materials: optional cherry or mahogany body; cherry base track; black fabric bellows; brass hardware, varnish finish
Sizes Offered: 4x5; 4 ½x6 ½; 5x7; 5x8; 6 ½x8 ½; 8x10
Notes:

     The Champion View Camera was a relatively inexpensive camera manufactured for the amateur photographer.  It was made in one form or another for at least 19 years beginning in 1887.

     There are no small number of Variations, generally distinguished by the following features:

Champion Variation 1 has a tilt-down ground glass frame, and is split here into three sub-variations. 
     Champion Variation 1A has the tilt-down ground glass frame and its swing hardware knob built into the top hardware piece.  This is the same camera as Anthony's Amateur Equipment No. 2B., which describes a handsomely finished camera (but not mahogany) having a single swing, and the engraving illustrates the top hardware that combines a ground glass clip with the swing set thumbscrew.  It is possible that this variation was never called Champion - that the switch of the name from Amateur Equipment No. 2B to Champion coincided with the construction change from Variation 1A to Variation 1B.  It is placed here to emphasize the continuity of Anthony's version of an inexpensive, back focus, square bellows camera.
     Champion Variation 1B has the tilt-down ground glass frame, but its swing knob is on the right side bottom of the rear standard.  It has a normal thumbscrew to make the bed rigid.
     Champion Variation 1C has the tilt-down ground glass frame, and the swing knob on the right bottom, but has a large brass plate to make the bed rigid.

Champion Variation 2 has a clunky-profile spring-held ground glass frame / spring back.

Champion Variation 3 has a flat-profile spring-held ground glass frame / spring back

Champion Variation 4 has the open front style adopted in April, 1900.

Relationship between the Champion and the NPA Camera
     The Champion looks almost identical to the more expensive  NPA Camera, so much so that the models are easily mistaken.  Both appear to have been made by a Scovill Mfg. Co. camera factory in Connecticut rather than by the New York American Optical factory, which was owned by Scovill and manufactured their more expensive models.  Generally, the Champion is made from less expensive wood and hardware, and is less expensively fitted and finished than is the NPA Camera.  The two models might be expected to be parallel to each other in variations and time frame.  However, this is not exactly the case.  In order to completely delineate the difference between the Champion and the NPA Camera over time, the following table has been developed, each row of which shows a feature or construction of one of the models, an example photograph illustrating the feature or construction, and the years it occurred in each model, if any.

Feature / Construction in the Champion and NPA Camera Models vs. Year