American Optical Co., Scovill Mfg. Co., props.

Flammang's Patent Revolving Back Camera, Front Focus

Date Introduced: - ; Years Manufactured: c.1886-1898
Construction: front focus via rack and pinion (single gear track on top of middle base rail); 1/2 swing; reversing by revolving back (the Flammang patent); three-piece lensboard
Materials: mahogany body; mahogany base; black fabric bellows; brass hardware; French polish finish
Sizes Offered: 4x5; 4.25x5.5; 5x7; 5x8; 6.5x8.5; 8x10
Notes: This model shares the same basic construction as the Scovill St. Louis only better construction and finish, but the main difference is the patented revolving back.  This model is sometimes only referred to in passing during a description of the back focus version by the statement "also available in front focus".    The revolving back is usually stamped "Flammang's Pat. Aug. 21, '83 No. 283,589", not to be confused with Flammang's other major patent, the rod and cylinder device for making a folding bed rigid, which is usually stamped "Flammang's Pat. Oct. 20, 1885" (#328,664).   Cameras have been erroneously sold as "Flammang's Patent" cameras merely because they were marked with the folding bed patent date.  The camera above is 5x8 and double swing, while the camera below is 6.5x8.5 and single swing.
References:
Scovill's Dry Plate Making for Amateurs, 1886, p. 15
Scovill's Photographic Series: The Photographic Instructor, 1888, p. xvi
J.W. Queen & Co. (Philadelphia, PA) Catalog, 1886, p. 74
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, C.H. Codman & Co. (Boston, MA), April 1887, p. 37
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, C.H. Codman & Co. (Boston, MA), September 1888, p. 29
Buchanan, Bromley & Co. (Philadelphia, PA) Catalog, 1888
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, Scovill & Adams Co. Catalog, January 1889, p. 28
Buchanan, Bromley & Co. (Philadelphia, PA) Catalog, 1889
American Annual of Photography and Photographic Times Almanac for 1890, p. 100
Photographic Material, Catalogue O & P, James W. Queen & Co. (Philadelphia, PA), 1891, p. 60 (as Revolving Back Camera Front Focusing)
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, Scovill & Adams Co. Catalog, January 1892, p. 21 (as Revolving Back Camera Front Focus Pattern)
American Annual of Photography and Photographic Times Almanac for 1893, p. 90
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, Scovill & Adams Co. Catalog, 1896, p. 35
American Annual of Photography and Photographic Times Almanac for 1897, p. lxi (bargain page)

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