My Dad's 'Brownie' Box Camera.

timoc

timoc

Well-known Member
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UK
These past weeks I've been bored stiff being indoors and the weather outside being horrible, so after having a conversation with my neighbour over the fence, I decided to do the same as he has, and have a clear out.

I started off in all the cupboards and high bedroom shelves, and I was amazed what I had been hoarding for years, probably telling myself that this or that would one day "come in handy".

I filled several of those large black plastic bags and put them in the shed to dispose of when the lockdown is finished, but one item I put on the mantlepiece and memories flooded back.
The item was a box containing my Dad's old Brownie box camera, still in pristine condition.

Today, the weather has been superb and again I was gabbing to my neighbour Frank. He takes lots of photographs so I brought out the Brownie to show him. Frank is about early 40s and he told me that he'd never seen a Brownie. I handed him the box and told him he could have it and the spare films, though by now they would likely be unusable, and even if they could still be used, who would develop them for him?

He asked me did I own a more modern camera and I told him that I didn't.

"What", he asked, "But you can take pictures with your phone, surely?"

I told him I didn't own one of these new fangled gizzmos and he said that I should buy one, so that we could chat to each other.

"Why", I asked, "I'm chatting to you now without a phone?"

"But, what if it was raining, you wouldn't want to stand out here getting soaked", he said?

"Well, if it was pissing down with rain I'd forgo the chat, but if it was urgent, I'd get my umbrella", I told him.

These youngsters amaze me. :)

Did you ever have a Brownie? :)
 

Pinky said:
My sister snagged Mom's old brownie camera. Hubby has his father's special edition Kodak from the 1920's.
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I was looking on ebay earlier, Pinky, and there are hundreds of them for sale and they are cheap as chips. :)
 

I had one, years ago, but it was a run-of-the-mill one.

A friend had one it was brown one, whether that is relevant,
I don't know, it had the best lens of any camera at that time,
everything somehow was in focus, the background and the
foreground, this was in the 1970s.

Mike.
 
My mother used one for years, I think it was the only camera she ever owned, but when I tried to use it "camera shake" was the issue I think, I couldn't hold it steadily enough, so pictures quite blurred, or the subject moved a little, unless it was on a still day taking a shot of the scenery.
 
Yes we had a couple in the family.first one I ever used. My father also had some good cameras and darkroom equipment as he had to take pix for his engineering work .
 
We must have had a Brownie, or something like it, I remember family outings with my father forever holding a box-like camera. A camera that I had for a Christmas present from my Father when I was in my mid teens, still gives good service. Dad told me years later that he had actually bought it in a old photos 127.JPGold photos 128.JPGshop that traded in second hand goods, it cost two pounds. I loved it then and love it still. As for hording timoc, I never throw anything away. Here's my camera that was bought second hand, sixty years ago. Who remembers the light meter?
 
horseless carriage said:
We must have had a Brownie, or something like it, I remember family outings with my father forever holding a box-like camera. A camera that I had for a Christmas present from my Father when I was in my mid teens, still gives good service. Dad told me years later that he had actually bought it in a View attachment 151491View attachment 151492shop that traded in second hand goods, it cost two pounds. I loved it then and love it still. As for hording timoc, I never throw anything away. Here's my camera that was bought second hand, sixty years ago. Who remembers the light meter?
Click to expand...
The light meter? Did it have a slot to put a shilling in? :)
 
My dad had one of those cameras. Every time he took a pic, it like a Cecil DeMille production. There was always something just not right. It was the light. We were not close enough. We were too close together. Then there was the background. By the time my dad got everything just right, your grand kids could have had grand kids. Now, you think with all this my dad would take fantastic pics. NO WAY. Brownie cameras came with a strap.. That strap was in every pic my dad took. Every pic had a big, brown fuzzy thing running through it.
 

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