Scovill Mfg. Co., Waterbury, CT & New
Haven, CT
or
American Optical Co., New York, NY
New York Dry Plate (601-603) Outfit
Scovill Dry Plate Making for
Amateurs, 1886, p. 9
An Illustrated Cataloge of Cameras, Lenses and Other Apparatus
and Materials for Photography, Dated April 1, 1884, W.H.Walmsey
(Philadelphia, PA), p.6
Note that the description below specifically mentions sycamore
wood - which is why the New York Camera has a strong flecked
appearance.
Also note that, lacking a second tripod hole on the camera (like the
Waterbury camera), the New York Camera came with a metal piece
called a reverser. As many New York Cameras that
I have owned, I have never once found a reversier in the carrying case.
5 x 8", serial number 38.
The
platform of this camera is stamped:
"Amer. Optical Co. / Scovill Mfg. Co., N.Y." This is unusual,
since all other New York View examples have only stamps that
read: "Scovill Mfg. Co., N.Y." See notes
below.
The lens board period, but is mahogany rather than quarter-sawn sycamore
as the original would have been. A previous owner attached the two
large screws on top of the front standard for some unknown purpose.
A view showing the ground glass down; the large flat
hinges are not original - the ground glass frame originally was
removable (and often lost) as the other examples on this web page show.
Bottom. A previous owner has glued or soldered
a nut at the center of the quick-connect tripod mount.
One minor difference between this Amer. Optical - stamped example and
the other Scovill - stamped examples is that three rather than four
screws attach the platform to the front standard (to the right in the
photo).
Top
Stamp, rear end of platform
frame: "Amer. Optical Co. / Scovill Mfg. Co., N.Y." and "38"
another 5 x 8", serial no. 51.
The platform and the lens board are stamped: "Scovill Mfg. Co., N.Y."
The box not the normal Scovill carrying case, but is marked Samuel Peck
& Co., owned by Scovill in the 1870's and 1880's. I put it in
there to protect its nearly pristine condtion.
Bottom
Top
Stamp, upper lens board:
"Scovill Mfg. Co., N.Y."
Stamp, rear end of platform
frame: "Scovill Mfg. Co., N.Y."
Plate holder, stamped: "American
Optical Co., Scovill Mfg. Co., N.Y."Stamp
The right end is a replacement manufactured from a somewhat larger
Rochester Optical Co. holder.
Stamp, inside cover of box:
"Manufactured by / Samuel Peck & Co."
6 ½ x 8 ½, Serial No. 52.
The platform and lens board are stamped: "Scovill Mfg. Co., N.Y."
Stamp
near the top of the lens board: "Scovill Mfg. Co., N.Y. This
appears to be the same stamp as is on the rear of the camera platform,
and on both sides of the plate holder.
Note that while three of the screws holding the brass strip above the
lens board appear to be aligned, they have not been filed down to the
level of the strip, nor has the strip been draw filed. The strip
has horizontal lines arising from the varnish having been applied
horizontally.
Stamp, serial number "52" near the bottom of the lens board. This
number is repeated in three other spots on the camera.
Stamps, serial number "52" in two spots: 1) above the lever, near the
bottom of the ground glass frame, and 2) below the lever, on the moving
platform of the rear standard.
A photo of the same area as
the photo just above, showing the other "52" normally hidden by the
ground glass screen (just above the lever).
Also, at the bottom of the photo, the "Scovill Mfg. Co., N.Y." stamp
near the rear of the camera platform.
5 x 8", serial number 61.
The platform and lens board are stamped:
"Scovill Mfg. Co., N.Y."
Stamp, upper lens board:
"Scovill Mfg. Co., N.Y."
Stamp, lower lens board: serial
number "61"
Stamp, rear end of platform
frame: "Scovill Mfg. Co., N.Y."
Stamp, lower part of ground
glass frame: serial number "61"
Stamp, lower part of rear
standard, hidden under the ground glass frame: serial number "61"
Manufacturer:
Scovill Mfg. Co., New Haven, CT factory
and/or American Optical Co., N.Y., N.Y factory
Date Introduced: 1884 ;
Years Manufactured: 1884
- c.1889
Construction: back focus
via push-pull; single swing; reversing by patent tripod reverser
Materials: quarter-sawn
sycamore body, cherry base; white-wood (poplar
or equivalent) ground glass frame; black fabric bellows; brass
hardware;
Sizes Offered: #601=4 ¼x5 ½; #601A=4 ¼x6 ½;
#602=5x8; #603=6 ½x8 ½
Notes:
Engravings of the camera in catalogs are usually accompanied by a banner that states "Introduced in 1884". The camera included has a folding bed, a thumbscrew on top of body for swing; the outfit included tripod, Waterbury lens w/ insertable stops, the wooden case, and what looks like on of Scovill's pamphlet-catalogs: How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List. The included tripod featured the Lightning Reverser top, since the camera had no provision for reversing. The camera did have a quick-connect tripod mount rather than a screw-type tripod socket.
The distinctive quarter-sawn sycamore is used for the body and a thick veneer on the front.
Each year
from 1886 to 1889, one size less per year was offered until stated to
have been discontinued.
The camera models of the Scovill companies, when marked with a label or stampings, are either marked Amer. Optical Co. or Scovill Mfg. Co. or variations thereof over the years of production.
Originally, the Scovill Mfg. Co. entered the photographic supply business as makers of Daguerreotype plates. They expanded their business into manufacturing cameras boxes by purchasing the Samuel Peck & Co. factory in New Haven, CT in ~1860, and by purchasing the American Optical Co. (A.O.), New York, NY ~1867. Therefore, a Scovill company camera will have been made either in the New York factory or the New Haven factory. Each model produced seems to have been designated to have been made in one or the other factory throughout the model's production, with one sole exception so far: New York View serial no. 38, below.
Those models having Americn Optical Co. markings generally appear to be the top of the Scovill line - more complex, having their wood finely finished using the French polish process, and their hardware draw-filed or nickel-plated. It makes sense that a camera model that was routinely marked A.O. (or, if not marked, if its model was advertised as an A.O. camera in a catalog) would be manufactured in the former A.O. factory in New York City. The camera models routinely marked Scovill Mfg. Co. are generally not as well finished, having their wood covered by one coat of varnish or shellac, and their hardware roughly (e.g., Waterbury model cameras having incomplete coverage of their Flammang rod and pocket device to make the platform rigid) covered or sometimes not covered with varnish or shellac at all. It is therefore likely that the camera models identified as or routinely marked Scovill Mfg. Co. were manufactured in the former Samuel Peck & Co. factory in New Haven.
The single exception so far to the above rule/observations is the New York View Camera model, of which there are four examples on this web page. One example of the New York View, serial no. 38, is stamped "Amer. Optical Co. / Scovill Mfg. Co., N.Y.". The other three examples of the New York View, serial numbers 51, 52 and 61, are stamped "Scovill Mfg. Co., N.Y." - these three are all so stamped on the top rear of the platform, and serial no. 52 has an additional such stamp on the upper lens board.
The construction details are idential in all four examples regardless of markings, including 1) the sizes of the parts of the three 5x8" cameras, 2) the size and spacing of the box joints which were used in the two open-ended boxes used in each camera, 3) the wood finish appearance and thickness, 4) the finish of the brass hardware, and 5) the font size and font family. That these details are uniform undoubtedly means that the four cameras were made using the same group of tools and jigs, and finished in the same way. Since the majority are stamped with Scovill markings, they must have been made in the New Haven factory, including the one stamped with A.O. markings. There must have been an A.O. stamp at the Scovill New Haven plant, which was used by mistake to mark the platform of serial no. 38. These cameras were made in batches of probably ten or more, so there should be others out there.
References:
Scovill's Photo. Series No. 1, The Photographic
Amateur, 2nd Edition, J. Traill Taylor,
Scovill Mfg. Co. pub. (New York, NY), 1883,
2nd Ed. about 1885, p. a9
Scovill's Photo. Series No. 17 - First Lessons in Amateur Photography,
Randall Spaulding, Scovill Mfg. Co. pub. (New York, NY), copyright 1886,
p.a9
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), distributed by
Andrew J. Smith (Providence, RI),
1886, p. 33
Scovill's Photo. Series No. 12,
Photographic Chemistry, Scovill Mfg. Co.
(New York, NY), 1886, p. a17
Scovill's Photo. Series No. 20, Dry
Plate Making for Amateurs, Scovill Mfg. Co. (New
York, NY), 1886, p. a9
Walzl's Photographic Journal and the Photographer's Friend, Richard
Walzl, pub. (Baltimore, MD) undated c.1886, p. 30
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), distributed by
C.H. Codman & Co. (Boston, MA), April 1887, p.
31
Scovill Manf'g Co. Catalogue Photographic Goods, June, 1887, David
Tucker & Co. (Buffalo, NY), June, 1887, p.175
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY),
undated but about January 1888, p. 30
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY),
May 1888, p. 18
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co., distributed by John Wanamaker
(Philadelphia, PA), June 1888,
p. 18
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), distributed by C.H.
Codman & Co. (Boston, MA), September
1888, p. 18
How to Make
Photographs and Descriptive Price List, Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York,
NY), November 1888, p. 18
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), distributed by Buchanan, Bromley
& Co. (Philadelphia, PA) Catalog, 1888; not in
the 1889 Buchanan Bromley & Co. Catalog
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
The Scovill & Adams Co.
(New York, NY), January 1889, p. 18 (601 only)
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
The Scovill & Adams Co.
(New York, NY), March 1889, p. 18 (601
only)
Not in the
Scovill & Adams March 1890 catalog
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Co. / Scovill Mfg. Co. (alphabetical)
