Another in my occasional series featuring cameras in my rather eclectic collection. Here’s my Brownies! (For those of a more recent generation, – Brownies are NOT a crumbly dark confection!)

The earliest Brownies were made by Eastman Kodak in the first years of the 20th century, and production continued right up to the 1950s. My maternal grandfather, the late Bob Kirk owned one of these in the 1960s, and I can well remember family caravan holidays in Millisle, and lots of photos being captured with the ‘Box Brownie.’

The Brownies were literally nothing more than a lightproof box, with a lens and a shutter and a film loaded into the rear, but this innovative camera design, mass produced and cheap, put photography within the reach of millions of people all round the globe. In that sense, the Brownie was the equivalent of the modern iPhone! (without the internet of course!)

I have two Brownies, neither of which work, but which I keep for sentimental reasons. The left hand camera is the Brownie Flash II, which originally belonged to Sam Scott, Janette’ grandfather. The Flash II was made between 1957 and 1960 and it got its name because a flashbulb attachment could be fitted to the side.

A rather more sophisticated camera than the more basic ‘Six-20’ (on the right above), the Flash Two had a metal slide-out ‘close-up’ control on the side, (see below)

The Flash II had a Kodet F/14 Lens, and a single blade shutter, producing a picture of 2.25 X 3.25 inches on 620 roll film.

The simpler and less functional Six-20 Model C featured a similar picture size as the ‘Flash II’ but had a Meniscus f/11 lens, and a single blade shutter set at 1/50th sec.

Both cameras (all Brownie Cameras) were designed to be used at waist level, with two viewfinders, one of portrait and one for landscape.

The 620 roll film was loaded to the rear of the camera, and a little red round portal showed the number of frames exposed.

Brownies are plentiful on the on-line auction sites, selling for a few pounds, and they make great decorative cameras for a studio feature, or even just to sit in a display cabinet – better still, why not look for a working model? Have fun with the Brownies!