Pickwik
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| Two Pickwiks image by Graustark (Image rights) |
Pickwik is a brand of simple plastic camera for 127 film, known in at least three body-molding styles, but all using the same nameplate design surrounding the lens.
These were all apparently produced in Chicago, USA, in the mid-20th century. That city's camera industry created a bewildering variety of brand names for various essentially-similar bakelite "minicams,"[1] , as discussed in the wiki article The Chicago Cluster. The group of companies involving Utility Mfg. (Falcon), Spartus and Monarck were surely at the center of this swarm of quasi-fictional brands and models. McKeowns also attributes some Pickwik models to Jack Galter, from after he left Spartus camera in 1950[2]. One wonders if unused body moldings and faceplates were being traded around between the various figures in the Chicago camera industry. The Pickwik's molded legend "Graf Lens 50mm" is one commonly seen on other Chicago cameras.
Notes
- ↑ For example, see the "Photo Master" compared to a Pickwik by Graustark on Flickr.
- ↑ McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). Page 335–336.
