E. & H.T. Anthony & Co.
Champion Equipment, Variation 1C (tilting ground glass, side swing knob, plate to make bed rigid) (c. 1887-c.1890)
4 x 5" Variation 1C has a brass plate to make
bed rigid
Date Introduced: - ;
Years Manufactured: c.1887-1899 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 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
Feature / Construction in the Champion
and NPA Camera Models vs. Year
Feature / Construction
Example
N.P.A. References:
Another Example 4x5 Variation 1C Nickel-plated
Label Patent Stamps:
May 18, 1886; Feb 20, 1883 (looks like 1888); Nov 11, 1884
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; 4¼x6½; 5x7; 5x8;
6½x8½; 8x10
Notes:
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.
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.
Champion
Wood Used in Camera Body (Bed/Platform is
Always Cherry)
Cherry
c.
August 1887 (1st mention of the term Champion)
Variation 1B
Never
Mahogany
c.
Jan. 1891 to at least 1903
Variations 1B, 1C?, 2,3,4
c.
May 1885 to Sep. 1886 (as Anthony's Amateur Equipment 2B) and
c. Sep. 1886 (1st mention of the term N.P.A. as identical
to Equipment 2B, and the newly added 7B and 8B) to at least 1903
Variations Brass Guides, 1A, 1B, 2,
3, 4
Hardware Finish
Plain, as punched
or cast, not lacquered; brass-colored when new, slowly ages to
darker (as in the example to the right)
c.
August 1887 (1st mention of the term Champion) to at
least 1903
c.
Sep. 1886 (1st mention of the term N.P.A. as identical to
Equipment 2B, and the newly added 7B and 8B) through c. Jan.
1889
Variations Brass Guides, 1A (early), 1B
Draw file
finished
The hardware, along with the screws holding it, are
flattened by drawing a medium-coarse file over its surface,
leaving visible lines (going from NW to SE in the example), then
lacquered; remains like new as long as the lacquer is
undisturbed; ages to brown where the lacquer is missing
Never
c.
1890 through to c. Aug. 1899
Variations 1A (late), 2, 3, 4
Nickel-plated,
lacquer is not needed; shiny when new, ages to matte finish (as
in the example to the right)
Never
16
Apr 1900 Supplement to the 1899 catalog to at least 1903
Variation 4
Ground Glass Frame Back / Putting in a
Plate Holder:
Ground
glass frame tilts down out of the way; two small springs hold
the bottom of the plate holder; a clasp holds the top
c. Jan 1891 - c. 1897
Variations 1A, 1B, 1C
c. May 1885 to Sep. 1886 (as Anthony's Amateur Equipment 2B) and
c. Sep. 1886 (1st mention of the term N.P.A.) to c. Jan.
1889
Variations Brass Guides, 1A, 1B
Clunky
spring back ground glass frame; ground glass frame pivots from
the middle; the plateholder slides under the ground glass frame.
c. unknown
Variation 2 (hypothetical)
Not ever seen in catalogs and probably never manufactured;
called Variation 2 (hypothetical) to be analogous to the
variations in the N.P.A. model
c. 1890 to c. 1900
Variation 2
Flat spring
back ground glass frame; ground glass frame pivots from the
middle; the plateholder slides under the ground glass frame.
c. Feb. 1898 - c. Aug. 1899
Variation 3 (are all of these NPA?)
c. unknown
Variation 3 (hypothetical)
All N.P.A. engravings from May 1891 up to the 16 Apr 1900
Supplement (introduction of Variation 4) have hardware of
the type Variation 2. But French polished N.P.A. models
with flat spring ground glass hardware are extant.
Spring back
ground glass frame; ground glass frame pivots from the left
end
16 Apr 1900 Supplement to the 1899 catalog to at least 1903
Variation 4
16 Apr 1900 Supplement to the 1899 catalog to at least 1903
Variation 4
Fastening the Bellows Draw:
Large flat
behind the rear standard having a rotating flipper-shaped
handle; rear standard is attached using a slotted center frame
member / sliding t-shaped hardware within the slot
c.
August 1887 (1st mention of the term Champion) to c. Aug.
1899
Variations 1A, 1B, 1C, 2, 3c.
May 1885 to Sep. 1886 (as Anthony's Amateur Equipment 2B) and
c. Sep. 1886 (1st mention of the term N.P.A.) to c. Jan.
1889
Variations Brass Guides, 1A, 1B
Thumbscrew
is below the rear standard; no center frame member; rear
standard is attached using a horizontal slot in the frame /
brass sliding hardware on each side
16
Apr 1900 Supplement to the 1899 catalog to at least 1903
Variation 4
c.
1890 to at least 1903
Variations 2, 3, 4
Swing Back Fastener:
On top of
rear standard, combined with the tilt-back clasp hardware
Unknown
c.
May 1885 to Sep. 1886 (as Anthony's Amateur Equipment 2B) and
c. Sep. 1886 (1st mention of the term N.P.A.) to c. Jan.
1889
Variations Brass Guides, 1A, 1B
Thumbscrew
on the right side of the rear standard
c.
August 1887 (1st mention of the term Champion) to at
least 1903
Variations 2, 3, 4
c.
1890 to at least 1903
Variations 2, 3, 4
Making the Hinged Bed/Platform Rigid:
Patent clamp
hooks
c.
August 1887 (1st mention of the term Champion) to c. Aug.
1899
Variations 1A, 1B, 1C, 2, 3c.
May 1885 to Sep. 1886 (as Anthony's Amateur Equipment 2B) and
c. Sep. 1886 (1st mention of the term N.P.A.) to c. Aug.
1899
Variations 1A, 1B, 1C, 2, 3
Thumbscrew
on the right side of the frame bed/platform
16
Apr 1900 Supplement to the 1899 catalog to at least 1903
Variation 4
16
Apr 1900 Supplement to the 1899 catalog to at least 1903
Variation 4
Front Standard Construction:
Solid rather
than frame
c.
August 1887 (1st mention of the term Champion) to c. Aug.
1899
Variations 1A, 1B, 1C, 2, 3
c.
May 1885 to Sep. 1886 (as Anthony's Amateur Equipment 2B) and
c. Sep. 1886 (1st mention of the term N.P.A.) to c. Aug.
1899
Variations 1A, 1B, 1C, 2, 3
Frame rather
than solid; lighter weight
16
Apr 1900 Supplement to the 1899 catalog to at least 1903
Variation 416
Apr 1900 Supplement to the 1899 catalog to at least 1903
Variation 4
Bellows Shape:
Straight /
Non-tapered
c.
August 1887 (1st mention of the term Champion) to c. Aug.
1899
Variations 1A, 1B, 1C, 2, 3c.
May 1885 to Sep. 1886 (as Anthony's Amateur Equipment 2B) and
c. Sep. 1886 (1st mention of the term N.P.A.) to c. Aug.
1899
Variations 1A, 1B, 1C, 2, 3
Tapered;
smaller in front; lighter weight
16
Apr 1900 Supplement to the 1899 catalog - at least 1903
Variation 416
Apr 1900 Supplement to the 1899 catalog - at least 1903
Variation 4
