Rochester Optical Co.
Field View Cameras
| Timeline of the Rochester Family of Companies | |
| W. H. Walker & Co., Rochester, NY, 1881-1883 | |
| Rochester Optical Co., Rochester, NY, 1883-1899 (W.F. Carlton and H.B. Carlton) | |
| 1891: Rochester Optical Co. continues under W.F. Carlton, but H.B. Carlton leaves to form Rochester Camera Mfg. Co. | |
| Rochester Optical Co., Rochester, NY, 1883-1899 | Rochester Camera Mfg. Co., Rochester, NY, 1891-1895 |
| " | Rochester Camera Co., Rochester, NY, 1895-1897 |
| " | Rochester Camera & Supply Co., Rochester, NY, 1897-1899 |
| 1899: Merger of five companies, 1) the Rochester Optical Co., 2) the Rochester Camera & Supply Co., 3) the Western Camera Mfg. Co., 4) the Monroe Camera Co., Rochester NY, and 5) the Ray Camera Co., Rochester NY, into the Rochester Optical & Camera Co. (RO&CCo.) | |
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Rochester Optical & Camera Co., Rochester,
NY, 1899-1903 It should be noted here that the operation of the Rochester Optical & Camera Co. appears to have been rather unusual, apparently a name change being the only result of the merger. Nominally or legally, the name of the company may have been Rochester Optical & Camera Co., but the constituent merged companies (at least Rochester Optical Co. and Rochester Camera & Supply Co., the two that made wood and brass view camera with which this web site is concerned) usually continued to publish catalogs containing the same products as they produced before the merger. If the RO&CCo. name is mentioned it is usually hidden on the 2nd or 3rd page, so that the catalog appears to represent the former company only. This results in two apparently competing catalogs being printed during the RO&CCo. era. Specifically: In 1900: The Premo Camera 1900, Rochester Optical Co., and The Poco Camera 1900, Rochester Camera & Supply Co. ( Branch, Rochester Optical & Camera Co. inside). In 1901: Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Optical & Camera Co., and The Premo Camera, The Poco Camera Catalogue, Rochester Optical & Camera Co.. In 1902: Premo Cameras, Rochester Optical Co. (succeeded by Rochester Optical & Camera Co. inside), and Poco Cameras, Rochester Camera & Supply Co., Succeeded by Rochester Optical & Camera Co. (but the covers do not mention RO&CCo. In 1903: Premo Cameras, Rochester Optical Co. succeeded by Rochester Optical & Camera Co. (but the cover has only Premo Cameras), and The Poco Camera, Rochester Camera & Supply Co. (succeeded by Rochester Optical & Camera Co. inside) In 1904 and later: catalogs are published by the Rochester Optical Co., as per the 1903 name change. As is evident, throughout the RO&CCo. era, 1900-1903, the Premo and Poco camera lines that formerly competed still competed in usually separate catalogs. Likewise, usually the view cameras formerly made by Rochester Optical Co. and Rochester Camera & Supply Co. continued to be made and offered in the catalogs marked by their former manufacturer/inventor/developer. |
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| Rochester Optical Co., Rochester, NY, 1903-1907 | |
| Rochester Optical Division, Eastman Kodak Co. (EKC), 1907-1917 | |
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Rochester Optical Department, EKC, 1918-1922 |
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A complete history of the Rochester companies can be found at http://www.nwmangum.com/Kodak/Rochester.html.
The companies represented on this page had many names, but their ties were close and the view cameras were often similar. The name Rochester Optical Co. can refer to two different incarnations: the 1883-1899 company or the 1903-1907 company, which was purchased by EKC in 1907.
Of the companies in the Rochester family, Rochester Optical Co. (either incarnation) and Rochester Camera Mfg. Co. manufactured most of the wooden view cameras still with us. Companies such as Western, Monroe, and Ray specialized in leather-covered hand and stand cameras.
Patents:
Rochester cameras were marked with few patents compared to the great
number on Anthony or Scovill cameras.
Aug. 31, 1886;
Scans of number of catalogs can be found here. Scans of the Rochester Camera companies catalogs are here.
