American Optical Co., Scovill Mfg. Co., props.
76 Camera, Variation
1
Centennial Camera, Variation 1
Pocket Camera,
Variation 1
Date Introduced: 1876 ; Years
Manufactured: 1876-c.1898
Construction: rear focus;
via rack and pinion (single gear track on top of middle base rail) single
swing; reversing by two tripod mounts; three-piece, shifting lensboard
Materials: mahogany body; cherry base; red leather bellows;
brass hardware
Sizes Offered: 4x4; 4x5 (photos); 5x8
(top photo)
Notes: The camera was introduced
in 1876, hence the name 76. It was also called the Centennial
since the United States was celebrating its centennial at the time. The #1
1888 Instantaneous Outfit consisted of a 76 Camera equipped with a shutter.
The upper photos are of a 5x8 camera equipped with a Scovill finder just like
the engravings. The lower photos are 4x5".
Both of the above cameras were manufactured after 1885, the
date of their Flammang patent rod and piston bed hardware. Both also have
a shifting lensboard, which could be used to take stereo photos by exposing one
side, shifting, then exposing the other. Note the slight variation in
hardware to raise or lower the lensboard. The earliest 76 cameras were described in literature as having a rear
focusing screw, while later ones are illustrated in literature with rack and
pinion focus
wheel (as above). It's brass guides on the bed could
stand up to hard use. Like most American Optical equipment, the 76
is an extremely well crafted instrument.
References:
Photographic Times 5, July 1875, p. 168-169 (introduced)
American Optical Catalog, 1878, p. 19-20
Thos. H. McCollin Cat., 1882, p. 15
Scovill's Dry Plate Making for Amateurs, 1886, p. 27
J. W. Queen & Co. (Philadelphia, PA) Catalog, 1886, p. 60
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, C.H. Codman & Co.
(Boston, MA), April 1887, p. 34
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
C.H. Codman & Co. (Boston, MA), September 1888, p.
22
Buchanan, Bromley & Co. (Philadelphia, PA) Catalog, 1888
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, Scovill & Adams Co.
Catalog, January 1889, p. 21
Buchanan, Bromley & Co. (Philadelphia, PA) Catalog, 1889
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, Scovill & Adams Co.
Catalog, January 1892, p. 13
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, Scovill & Adams Co.
Catalog, 1896, p. 32
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