|
Vintage Cameras, Photos Click With Collectors
By Anne Gilbert
New technology creates new objects
to collect. Even before the digital camera
replaced conventional means of taking
photos, collectors began looking at
cameras from the 1900s to the 1960s,
as well as photos from the early 20th
Century. Even then, old box Kodaks
were trashed or sold for a couple of
dollars at garage sales. While the photos
of Native Americans by photographer
Edward Sheriff Curtis were purchased
and framed, many were later relegated
to attics and forgotten. Now, both
early 20th Century cameras and photos
by Curtis and others of the era are
being seriously sought and collected.
Prices these days, depending on the
camera, age and condition can range
from $70 to several thousand. In the
Kovel’s Price Guide, a Mickey Mouse
Brownie Target box camera #5 can
be priced at $2,970. As a crossover
collectible, it would appeal to Disneyana
collectors as well as camera collectors.
The lucky collectors who began early
were usually photographers. Who else
would know a plate from a panoramic
camera? Doubtless, it all began
when collectors began snapping up
daguerreotypes and other early forms
of photography. Some collectors try to
specialize in one type of camera and then
gather all of the interesting photos or
plates that have been made by it. Other
collectors want cameras of all types.
When you consider that the Ernamox
camera, made around 1920, can sell for
more than $1,700, you may wonder why.
It was the first camera used for candid
Vintage
Cameras,
Photos Click
With Collectors
photos. Especially important to collectors
was its use to photograph the first meeting
of The League of Nations. This marked
the end of flash powder photography.
One of the early collectors of
photos and photo memorabilia was
Chicagoan Mickey Pallas. In 1973, he
contributed to and founded The Center
for Photographic Arts in Chicago.
Photographer Edward Curtis (1868-
1952) is recognized as the “…the most
accomplished photographer of the
American Indian in the United States,”
according to the Toomey Gallery in
Oak Park, Illinois, where many of his
photographs are auctioned. There, they
bring as much as $47,000, as did the
orotone photo of Medicine Crow. Curtis
pioneered this process that created a gold- hued image.
CLUES: Collectors should visit the
many photographic centers around
the country before they go hunting
and collecting. Joining a local camera
collectors’ club is a good beginning.
There are many other works by early 20th
Century photographers worth collecting,
such as Margaret Bourke-White and
Carleton E. Watkins. Historic scenes and
views of American scenes and events
are important. Look for that gold tone or
sepia finish, and if the price is right, take it
home and research the photographer.
|
Medicine Crow. (Photo, Treadway
Galleries, Oak Park, Ill.)
Curtis camera. (Photo, Julia
Galleries, Fairfield, Me.)
|
