Expert: David Silver - 4/14/2010

Question
My 94 year old Canadian (Toronto, Ont.)Uncle described the camera he used to take the many family pictures which have been passed down to me. He described the Kodak Camera as costing $400 (at that time, accordian pleated folding, portable, with an fx lense. I'd like to see a picture of what it looked like. My Uncle enlisted in the Canadian Air Force, embarked in a merchant vessel (ungarded) from Halifax, sailed and served in London, England and developed the film returned by the British Bombers returning from their missions over Germany.
His family pictures are beautiful, artistic both in composition and theme. His mostly small snaps blow up to "fit the page" clearly and sharp on my simple HP printer.
Thank you in advance,
Ina Lutz

Answer



Hello Ina,

I took a couple of days to ponder over this question because there was at least one significant possible answer that needs to be further investigated, but honestly I can only speculate...

I'm afraid your description is a bit too generic and there's not enough information for me to precisely identify whatever camera your uncle had.  The possibilities among "accordion pleated folding, portable" Kodak cameras from that period are extremely numerous!  There were certainly no Kodak cameras costing $400 at that time.  However, there was one high priced item that originally sold for $225 when introduced by Kodak in 1938, and that was the Super Kodak Six-20.  Take a look at this:

 http://www.pacifier.com/~kdwall/SuperSix20.jpg

From your uncle's descriptions, does this look familiar?  Rather than US$400, perhaps he meant CAN$400, and that would have translated to around US$225 in the late 1930's.  If you have any other questions or comments, you can contact me directly at <silver@photographyhistory.com>.  The Super Kodak Six-20 was a marvel of art deco styling and modern engineering, equipped with an "electronic eye" and with a razor sharp lens, and it made 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 inch exposures on old #620 roll film.  This is actually a fairly uncommon and historically significant camera, and it would be good to see it properly preserved, so if your uncle still has it I'd be happy to help him find a qualified collector or historian to buy it.  I look forward to hearing from you!

Best wishes,

David Silver