Expert: John Oliverio - 7/2/2006

Question
My wifes father was a WW 1 veteran. She found this Eastman Kodak camera of his and was wondering if it was a army issue camera? It has #12534 on it and the type of film is NO-A-123. Any information will be appreciated. What value if any?  

Answer
FOLLOW UP ANSWER:
 I found this in an article on bookrags.com.  Was her father in the "signal corps"?

The official photography of the war was largely the work of the Army Signal Corps, although the navy and the Marine Corps also appointed military photographers. The Signal Corps Photographic Section was created in July 1917, three months after the United States entered the war. By the end of the conflict in November 1918, 6,500 students were enrolled at the land and aerial photography schools, but few had completed their photography course and their one-month army training in time to be sent overseas before the Armistice. By that November there were 54 officers and 418 enlisted military photographers in France; most had already been photographers before the war, so had been able to be expedited through the process.

The standard still camera issued to the field units was the revolutionary 4 x 5-inch single-lens reflex Graflex. Introduced at the turn of the century, it made possible fast exposures and control over focus. Others carried 4 x 5-inch Speed Graphics. Depending on the available light, both could either be handheld or mounted on a tripod. Civilian photographers often traveled lighter with smaller 3 ¼ × 5 ½-inch roll-film cameras.

The Signal Corps photographic units took pictures primarily for military and "educational" use. Aerial photography taken with the fledgling Air Service greatly enhanced the ability of the army to gain information about the enemy lines. Images taken by all the units were pressed into service in the education of the raw recruits and to serve as propaganda for the public.



FIRST ANSWER:

There is no way to tell if the camera was actually issued or not.  It probably wasn't. There wasn't much of a photography program in the military in WW1.  I don't think there was even a job rating for it.  It was probably handeled by either public relations or by whoever was around who could use a camera.   Very few cameras actually have any kind of government markings on them.  And there usually isn't anything really special about the ones that do.  The military has a kind of casaual attitude about buying cameras.  Most are bought directly from the manufacturers on Pentagon contracts.  Many others were purchased by local supply officers as needed (without any special markings on them).  The first U.S. Navy photographers actually used their personal equipment.  I was a Navy Photographer in the Reserves for a short time, and I was inclined to use my own equipment because it was better than what they had on hand at Fleet Imaging.  And the cameras they did have were no different than what you could buy yourself....  and the only markings on them to show they belonged to the government were etched on by hand.  

John