Expert: David Silver - 4/21/2006

Question
My kodak has the silk bellows and Morocco covering.  #3 model c.  On the inside back it also has the latest patent date 1906 and e-3. The back has the same covering and has not been switched.  Mckeouns price book dates the pocket no.3 deluxe as 1901-1903. My question is, do you know if they made this deluxe model with silk gold bellows any other years? Thank you,  Sharon

Answer
Hi Sharon,

Yes, the No. 3 Folding Pocket Kodak Deluxe Camera was issued in a couple of minor variations over the entire "red bellows" period (1901-1910) of manufacturing the standard black No. 3 Folding Pocket Kodak.  There are also documented cases of mismatched bodies and backs, such as might be the situation with your example, most likely due to cross over assembly from batches of available parts.  The majority of these cameras have been found with Bausch & Lomb Automatic shutters sporting Plastigmat lenses, but we've also seen Goerz lenses on Volute shutters.  The differences from model to model in the No. 3 line are trivially small, and externally they're virtually identical.  Little has been written about the Deluxe variations, and McKeown's defaults to the well documented Model C version we find most often.  Examples with mismatched backs are rather frowned on, and there are too many known instances of attempted fakes, but honest ones all seem to sell in the same price range.  McKeown's current price is absurd, the result of a single auction sale in Europe where two stubborn bidders tried to outlast each other!  Three have appeared on eBay in the past year, all three bumped against yet did not reach $500, and none of them officially sold because the sellers had ridiculously high reserves.  I can recommend a number of honest collectors you can approach if you wish to sell, but they won't be interested in McKeown's price!  If you're looking for a realistic opportunity, perhaps as high as $500, get back to me and I'll provide a few e-mail addresses.  The only problem I see is that they may be gun shy over the mismatched back.  You must provide a digital image for them to examine, and allow a return period, and then they'll feel confident in making an offer.  So feel free to get back to me if you'd like some recommendations, or if you have any other questions.

Best wishes,

David Silver