Kodak Brownie

{{Short description|Series of photo cameras}} {{Infobox camera | camera_name = Brownie | image = 2014-365-233 The Basic Brownie Camera (14809795240).jpg | image_size = 200 | image_alt = | caption = Kodak Brownie No.2 Model F (1924) | maker = Eastman Kodak | type = box camera

| lens_mount = | lens = Meniscus Achromat lens | f-numbers = | complens =

| sensor =

| res =  | filmformat = Eastman No. 117 rollfilm | filmsize = {{frac|2|1|4}}-inch square | speedRange =  | fadvance =  | frewind =

| focus_type = | fmode =  | farea =  | fcbkt =

| flash =

| frame_rate = | shutter = Rotary, 1/40 second | shutterRange = | shutter_speeds =

| viewfinder = | magnification = | coverage =

| body_comp-feats = Leatherette covered cardboard | dimensions = | weight = | price = $1 ({{inflation|US|1|1900|fmt=eq}}){{Inflation-fn|US}} | made_in = Rochester, New York

| date = February 1900 | production = 1900–1986 | replaced =  | predecessor =  | successor = No. 2 Brownie (1901)

| footnotes = | references = [https://web.archive.org/web/20160402115610/http://www.geh.org:80/fm/Brownie/htmlsrc/me13000034_ful.html#topofimage Brownie (original model)] }}  The '''Brownie''' was a series of camera models made by Eastman Kodak and first released in 1900.<ref>[http://www.geh.org/fm/brownie/htmlsrc/index.html List of Brownie models] at George Eastman House {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402115605/http://www.geh.org/fm/brownie/htmlsrc/index.html|date=April 2, 2016}} </ref>

It introduced the snapshot to the masses by addressing the cost factor which had meant that amateur photography remained beyond the means of many people;<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harding |first=Colin |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203941782 |title=Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography |date=2013-12-16 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-203-94178-2 |editor-last=Hannavy |editor-first=John |chapter=Camera Design 6: Kodak (1888–1900)|doi=10.4324/9780203941782 }}</ref> the Pocket Kodak, for example, would cost most families in Britain nearly a whole month's wages.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The National Archives {{!}} Exhibitions {{!}} 1901 Census {{!}} Events |url=https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/census/events/polecon3.htm#:~:text=Average%20income%20per%20head,%20which,one-ninth%20of%20its%20population. |access-date=2023-05-29 |website=www.nationalarchives.gov.uk}}</ref>

The Brownie was a basic cardboard box camera with a simple convex-concave lens that took {{frac|2|1|4}}-inch square pictures on No. 117 roll film. It was conceived and marketed for the sale of Kodak roll films. Because of its simple controls and initial price of US$1 (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|1|1900}}|0}} in {{inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation/fn|US}}) along with the low price of Kodak roll film and processing, the Brownie camera surpassed its marketing goal.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Lothrop |first1=Eaton S. |title=The Brownie camera |journal=History of Photography |date=January 1978 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=1–10 |doi=10.1080/03087298.1978.10442948}}</ref>

==Invention and etymology== thumb|left|Kodak Brownie advertisement

Frank A. Brownell invented the Brownie for the Eastman Kodak Company.<ref>{{US patent|725034}}</ref> Named after the Brownie characters popularised by the Canadian writer Palmer Cox, the camera was initially aimed at children. More than 150,000 Brownie cameras were shipped in the first year of production,<ref name="todd">{{cite book|last1=Gustavson|first1=Todd|title=500 Cameras 170 years of photographic innovation|date=2011|publisher=Sterling Signature|isbn=978-1-4027-8086-8}}</ref> and cost a mere 5 shillings in the United Kingdom. An improved model, called No. 2 Brownie, came in 1901, which produced larger 3.25-by-2.25-inch (1.44:1 aspect ratio) photos, cost $2, and was also a huge success.<ref name=":0" />

Initially marketed to children, with Kodak using them to popularise photography, the Brownie achieved broader appeal as people realised that, although very simple in design and operation, it could produce very good results under the right conditions.

As they were ubiquitous, many iconic shots were taken on Brownies;<ref name=":0" /> on 15 April 1912, Bernice Palmer used a Kodak Brownie 2A, Model A<ref>{{cite web |title=No.2A Brownie |url=https://brownie-camera.com/56.shtml |website=The Brownie Camera Page |publisher=BCG Film & Photography |access-date=29 January 2022}}</ref> to photograph the survivors on deck of the {{RMS|Carpathia}}, on which Palmer was travelling.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bernie Palmer's Story |url=https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object-groups/titanic-group/bernie-palmer-s-story |website=Because of Her Story |publisher=Smithsonian |access-date=8 August 2025}}</ref> They were also taken to war by soldiers but by World War I the more compact Vest Pocket Kodak Camera as well as Kodak's Autographic Camera were the most frequently used.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019 |title="Shooting" The Great War: Kodak Cameras and the First World War · · Kodak Canada: The Early Years (1899-1939) Exhibition |url=https://kodakcanada.omeka.net/exhibits/show/kodak-canada--the-early-years/shooting-the-great-war--kodak- |access-date=2023-05-13 |website=Kodak Canada: The Early Years (1899–1939) Exhibition}}</ref>

Another group of people that became posthumously known for their huge photo archive is the Nicholas II of Russia family, especially its four daughters (known as the OTMA sisters).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Romanov's photo albums |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/149552988@N02/albums/with/72157712516456013 |website=Flickr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=helenrappaport |date=2018-08-09 |title=OTMA – The Romanov Sisters |url=https://helenrappaport.com/russia/romanovs-revolution/otma-the-romanov-sisters/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=Helen Rappaport |language=en-US}}</ref> They even managed to make their Brownie models produce many panoramic 4:1 photos (see Gallery).

Having written an article in the 1940s for amateur photographers suggesting an expensive camera was unnecessary for quality photography, ''Picture Post'' photographer Bert Hardy used a Brownie camera to stage a carefully posed snapshot of 17-year-old Pat Stewart,<ref name="thetimes-2b7x8v099">{{cite news |title=OBITUARY: Pat Stewart |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/pat-stewart-2b7x8v099 |access-date=10 March 2022 |work=The Times |date=May 20, 2017 |language=en}}</ref> a Tiller Girls dancer, with her friend, Wendy Clarke, sitting on railings of North Pier,<ref name="thetimes-2b7x8v099"/> Blackpool, for the cover of ''Picture Post''.<ref name="forbesindia-65065/7">{{cite web |title=Film Cameras: A Brief History, And Stellar Images Created With It {{!}} THE BROWNIE TARGET Six-20 (1946-1952) |url=https://www.forbesindia.com/aperture/forbes-lifes/film-cameras-a-brief-history-and-stellar-images-created-with-it/65065/7 |website=Forbes India |access-date=10 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="galerieprints-hardy">{{cite web |title=Photography Masterclass : Bert Hardy |url=https://www.galerieprints.com/photography-masterclass-bert-hardy/ |website=Galerie Prints |access-date=10 March 2022 |date=13 November 2015}}</ref><ref name="gettyimages">{{cite web |title=Blackpool Railings Bert Hardy |url=https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/blackpool-railings-bert-hardy |website=Getty Images |access-date=10 March 2022}}</ref><ref name="vintag.es-pat-stewart">{{cite web |title=The Story of Pat Stewart, the Blackpool Belle in the Polka Dot Dress, 1951 |url=https://www.vintag.es/2019/08/pat-stewart-the-blackpool-belle.html |website=VINTAGE EVERYDAY |access-date=10 March 2022}}</ref>

==Varieties==

The Kodak Brownie Number 2 is a box camera that was manufactured by the Eastman Kodak Company from 1901 to 1935.<ref name=todd/> There were five models, A through F, and it was the first camera to use 120 film. It also came with a viewfinder and a handle.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gustavson|first1=Todd|title=Camera A history of photography from Daguerreotype to Digital|date=2009|publisher=Sterling Signature|isbn=978-1-4027-5656-6}}</ref> The Brownie Number 2 was made of a choice of three materials: cardboard, costing US$2.00, aluminum, costing US$2.75, and a color model which cost US$2.50. It was a very popular and affordable camera, and many are still in use by film photographers.<ref>{{cite web |title=No.2 Brownie |url=http://www.brownie-camera.com/53.shtml |publisher=The Brownie Camera Page |access-date=9 May 2021}}</ref>

The cameras remained popular and spawned a wide variety, including a Boy Scout edition in the 1930s. In 1940, Kodak released the Six-20 Flash Brownie,<ref name=todd/> Kodak's first internally synchronized flash camera, using General Electric bulbs. In 1957, Kodak produced the Brownie Starflash, Kodak's first camera with a built-in flash.<ref name=todd/>

The Brownie 127 was popular,<ref>[http://www.brownie-camera.com/6.shtml "Brownie 127"]</ref> selling in the millions between 1952 and 1967. It was a bakelite camera with a simple meniscus lens and a curved film plane to compensate for the lens's deficiencies.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} Another model was the Brownie Cresta, sold between 1955 and 1958. It used 120 film and had a fixed-focus lens.<ref>{{cite web |title=Brownie Cresta |url=https://www.brownie-camera.com/16.shtml |publisher=The Brownie Camera Page |access-date=9 May 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Brace Yerself– The Kodak Brownie Cresta II Review |url=https://austerityphoto.co.uk/brace-yerself-the-kodak-brownie-cresta-ii-review/ |publisher=Canny Cameras |access-date=9 May 2021}}</ref>

The last official Brownie camera made was the Brownie II Camera, a 110 cartridge film model produced in Brazil for one year, 1986.<ref>{{cite web |title=Brownie II (110 Cartridge) The Last Brownie Camera |url=https://www.brownie-camera.com/5-2.shtml |publisher=The Brownie Camera Page |access-date=9 May 2021}}</ref>

==Gallery==

=== The camera models === <gallery> File:Brownie2 overview3.jpg|Brownie No. 2 (1901–1935) File:Kodak Brownie 2A, Model A.jpg|Kodak Brownie No. 2A, Model A (1909-1911), used by Bernice Palmer aboard RMS ''Carpathia'' File:No. 2 Folding Autographic Brownie.jpg|No. 2 Folding Autographic Brownie (1915–1926) File:Beau Brownie.jpg|Beau Brownie camera (1930–1933) File:Hawkeye brownie.JPG|Hawkeye Brownie Flash Model (1950–1961) File:Kodak Brownie Flash III.jpg|Brownie Flash III (1957–1960) File:Kodak Brownie Target Six-20 with original box.png|A Kodak Brownie Target Six-20 camera with its original box File:Brownie Starflex Camera.png|A Brownie Starflex camera with the cover for its finder window popped up. File:A Kodak Six-16 Brownie Junior.png|A Kodak Six-16 Brownie Junior box camera File:Kodak Brownie Holiday Flash Camera.png|A Kodak Brownie Holiday Flash box camera </gallery>

=== Portrait photos === <gallery> File:Using a Brownie 127.jpg|Young photographer using a Brownie 127 File:Anastasia-Maria-Tatiana-Olga (OTMA) Romanova - Olga's Name Day, 1912.jpg|A photo shot by the OTMA sisters on 12 July 1912. Notice the ''Brownie no. 2'' in the grand duchess Anastasia's hands. </gallery>

=== Panoramic photos === {{See also|Wide-angle lens|Panoramic photography}}<gallery widths="300"> File:Panorama with Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova and her family in Sebastopol, 1916.jpg|A panoramic photo shot with a ''Brownie no. 2'' (perhaps with a wide-angle lens) by the Romanov family in the port of Sevastopol, while inspecting the battleship ''Imperatritsa Mariya'' (27 May 1916). The grand duchess Anastasia is clearly visible on the right. File:Romanovs at Yevpatoria beach, 1916 (1 of 2).jpg|Another panoramic photo - a close-up one-shot with a ''Brownie no. 2'' by the Romanov family in Crimea, at the summer residence of countess Anna Vyrubova in Yevpatoria (29 May 1916). </gallery>

==See also== * The Diana camera was a low-cost "toy" camera introduced in the 1960s. * Holga cameras were manufactured from 1982 to 2015 and 2017-present.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading==

* Collins, Douglas. ''The story of Kodak'' 1990). [https://archive.org/details/storyofkodak0000coll/mode/1up online]

*{{cite news |last=Dowling |first=Stephen |date=5 January 2015 |title=The most important cardboard box ever? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30530268 |website=BBC News|access-date=5 January 2014}}, gives history of the Brownie camera line

* Eastman Kodak. ''Story of the Kodak Camera'' (1948) [https://archive.org/details/story-kodak-camera online

* Sarvas, Risto, and David M. Frohlich. "The Kodak Path (ca. 1888–1990s)." in ''From Snapshots to Social Media-The Changing Picture of Domestic Photography'' (Springer London, 2011) pp. 47-82.

==External links== {{Commons category|Kodak Brownie}} *{{US patent|725034}} Kodak Brownie, patented by George Eastman, filed July 1900 *[http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/features/brownieCam/ The Brownie Camera @ 100: A Celebration] on the Kodak website *[http://www.cameraofthemonth.com/articles/KodakBrownie.shtml Kodak Brownie Target Six-20: A Review]

Category:Kodak cameras Kodak Brownie 1 Category:Cameras introduced in 1900 Category:Products introduced in 1952