[LargeFormat] The Graphic Antiquarian

[Les Newcomer]

I suspect this book "History of Rochester NY  Cameras and lens Companies 
is a rehash of a speech given in 1974 and found on the web, but I went 
ahead and ordered a copy through ABE.
Here's what I have on the subject.

"The folmer and Schwing Mfg.Co. was manufacturing iluminating goods and 
novelties, located at 271 Canal Street, and put in a photographic trade as 
a side line during the summer of 1891. During the years 1895-1896 we had 
the Scoville and Adams Co. make a number of special cameras to order, 
being improvements upon their then existing model known as the Henry Clay.
  Mathias Flammang, being their super-intendant at the Waterbury factory 
knew of these special cameras....left Scovil.....solicited orders from us.
.... this continuted until the fall of 1897.
During the fall of 1897 we wquipped our own manufacturing plant,  loacted 
at 167 to 171 Elm St. New York City. (By) 1903 the factory moved to 407 
Broome St where we remained until the spring of 1905 when we were aquired 
by the EKc.
(Signed) W. F. Folmer, Manager"

Letter dated Dec 3, 1912.   I've omitted some of the minor details, but at 
no time does Mr. Folmer even hint at a bicycle manufacturing business.  I'
m suspicious that they may have been an agent, but as of yet cannot find 
an advertisment, catalog or handbill suggesting such.

I have a copy of an 1884 F&S catalog showing the gas fixtures, I also know 
of an 1889 catalog although I have seen it personally.
On Thursday, September 26, 2002, at 10:18 PM, Richard Knoppow wrote:

>
>   The history of Graflex is covered pretty well by Rudolf
> Kingslake in his little book_ The History of Rochester, N.Y.
> Camera and Lens Companies_ published by George Eastman
> House.
>   Graflex started out as Folmer & Schwing in lower
> Manhattan. Their original business was making gas lighting
> fixtures. At some point, probably when the city became
> increasingly electrified, they switched to making bicycles,
> which were introduced in the 1880's and had a tremendous
> vogue despite being enormously expensive. F&S got into the
> camera business by selling cameras as accessories for
> bicycle touring. After a time F&H began making their own
> cameras. It is from this that the term "cycle camera" comes,
> meaning a camera portable enough to take with you on a
> bicycle. The bicycle craze ran its course and F&H then
> dropped them and concentrated on cameras. Folmer patented a
> type of single lens reflex about 1892. The original had a
> rather complex shutter which proved to be somewhat
> unreliable so he designed a much simpler one, essentially
> the one used ever afterward on Graflex and Speed Graphic
> cameras.
>   The company was bought by Kodak about 1905 but sold again
> in the 1920's as the result of anti-trust action against
> Kodak. However, the two companies continued to have a close
> relationship afterward. Graflex built a number of Eastman
> and Kodak cameras, including the popular Kodak 2D view
> camera, the Century series of studio and view cameras, and
> others.
>   I haven't checked the dates above against Kingslake's book
> so they may be slightly off but not by much.
>
>
>
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