Post Exchange
The Post Exchange (or PX) facilities are trading posts located in bases of the US Army or US Air Force, and operated by the Army & Air Force Exchange Service.[1] Equivalent facilities in bases of the US Navy are called Naval Exchange.
Many Japanese products (not only cameras) sold in the US military bases in Japan were stamped with special markings. The rumour says that the products sold in the PX shops were not subject to the same taxes as those sold in Japan's domestic market, and that the markings were applied to avoid tax evasion.
The earliest marking, used around 1948–49, is a diamond-shaped engraving containing the Roman letters CPO or their katakana equivalent シピオ. "CPO" is said to stand for Central Purchasing Office,[2] presumably a temporary office of the occupation army.
The "CPO" marking was soon replaced by an EP marking inside a diamond, either in black or in red. The exact meaning of the letters "EP" is not confirmed; they probably don't stand for "Exchange Post", because the facilities were called the reverse, and a more plausible candidate is "Export Permitted".[3] The EP marking was perhaps applied until the early 1970s.[4]
Notes
- ↑ Base exchange at Wikipedia.
- ↑ See for example Dechert, p.68.
- ↑ See for example this thread at photo.net.
- ↑ Early 1970s: this thread at photo.net mentions an EP marking on Canon FTb cameras dating 1971–2.
Bibliography
- Dechert, Peter. Canon Rangefinder Cameras 1933–68. Hove, East Sussex: Hove Foto Books, 1985. ISBN 0-906447-30-5.
Links
- Base exchange at the English Wikipedia
