Blair Camera Co.
Champion Reversible Back Improved
Blair-Foss 1890 catalog, p. 5-6
8 x 10"
Label, metal, top of front
standard
Date Introduced: - ;
Years Manufactured: c.1889-1894
Construction: front focus
via rack and pinion and a central rod; single or double swing;
reverse by removable back; three-piece lens board; gear
in the middle on a brass rod
Materials: mahogany body;
cherry base, black fabric bellows;
brass or nickeled hardware,
French polish lacquer finish.
Sizes Offered: 1510=5x8; 1511=6½x8½;
1512=8x10
Notes: As
strange a design as Blair ever devised, the front standard pulls out to
start, then is affixed to the central brass rod via a thumbscrew.
At this point, the front of the camera is moved to focus using the
thumbscrew at the back, right-side bottom, which cranks the brass rod
back and forth. Thus, it is a front focus camera on which the
focus knob is at the back. The above photographed camera is
missing the front section of the brass rod, which had to be detachable,
like the front bed extension. The Blair 1895
catalog states that the Reversible Back Camera,
the Champion Reversible Back Camera, and
Combination Camera are superceded in design.
References:
Illustrated Catalogue and Price List of
Photographic Apparatus and Supplies, Section A, Blair Camera Co.
(Boston, MA), distributed by Oscar Foss (San Francisco,
CA), 1890, pp.
5-6
Illustrated Catalogue and Price List of
Photographic Apparatus and Supplies, Section A, Blair Camera Co.
(Boston, MA), 1893, p.
48
Anthony's Photographic Bulletin XXV No. 5, May 1 1894, p. xi
Illustrated Catalogue and Price List of
Photographic Apparatus and Supplies, Blair Camera Co. (Boston, MA),
1895, p. 44
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