Illustrated Catalogue and Price List of Photographic Apparatus and Supplies, Blair Camera Co. (Boston, MA), dated 1893, ~5 ½"x9 ", 56pp
In this catalog, which appears to have been printed at the pinnacle of Blair Camera Co. (with two factories and four display and sales rooms, there is a hint of decline, shown in the appendix listing of more than a few cameras no longer being made.
As per usual with Blair more than any other manufacturer, small changes were made to camera models, and incomplete or confusing descriptions of them complicate the study of variations. In this catalog, we have two models in the front of the book, 1) Blair's Reversible Back Camera (page 3), and 2) The Improved Cincinnati RB Camera (page 8). Each is provided with at least one engraving presumably of what you would get if purchasing one. In the Appendix, starting on page 48, we have two models, 1) Reversible Back Camera (p.48), and 2) Cincinnati RB Camera (p. 49). Both this are described as having been discontinued in favor of the models shown on pages 3 and 8. Furthermore, it is stated in the appendix, for both of the discontinued models, that they are very similar to their corresponding improved model on pages 3 and 8, except that they are not center swing. Would I be at all surprised to see that the engravings used for both the Improved Reversible Back Camera and the superseded Reversible Back Camera are exactly the same, both being not center swing? And would I be surprised to see that the engravings used for both the Improved Cincinnati RB Camera and the superseded Cincinnati RB Camera are likewise exactly the same, and likewise both not center swing? No, I would not. Apparently, Blair had no problem using an old engraving to sell a camera that would not exactly match its supposed engraving. I have seen both non-center swing and center swing versions of the Improved Reversible Back Camera, named in these web pages as Reversible Back Improved Variation 2 and Reversible Back Improved Variation 3, respectively. I have seen a non-center swing Cincinnati RB Camera, named in these web pages as Cincinnati RB Improved Camera Variation 1 but have not yet seen a center swing version, but have made a hypothetical web page for it, should it ever show up, Cincinnati RB Improved Camera Variation 4.
