Talk:Post Exchange

Here some notes on this:

1. The goods sold through PX stores are duty free as a fact. This is not a rumor.

2. Wes Loder from Nikon Historical Society says the following about the CPO: "The CPO (Central Purchasing Office) was an agency of the Occupation Armed Forces responsible for coordinating all purchases of goods for the PXs, BXs and Ships Stores. All cameras and lenses (and other goods) had to have the approval of the CPO in order for the stores to stock and sell them."

3. From 1954 on the CPO required the EP mark on goods sold through its stores.

4. "Export Permitted" makes no sense IMHO, since the export was never forbidden. Only the MIOJ et al were required on export goods. The CPO supplies other exchange stores, not only PX stores, so maybe the P of EP has nothing to do with the P in PX. What about "Exchange (store) Purchase" indicating that this product was bought duty free in a military base exchange store.

Best regards Dennis.

Cheers for that Dennis! It seems strange that this isn't easy to find out: these were (overt!) actions of the US government after all. I think we could go on thinking up plausible things for EP to stand for till the cows come home: Export Production? Exempt Payment?

I think you're right about 'Export Permitted'. The cameras (or other goods) were exempt from taxes applied in (say) Japan, so I would think the purpose of marking them was to deter people from selling them to the Japanese. It would have been perfectly ok for an American sailor to arrive back in the USA with an unmarked camera; it would just mean he'd paid over the odds by buying it in the high-street, not at his base store. Thus 'Export Production' makes sense to me; but why can't we find a respectable source for whatever the abbreviation is?

Cheers again! --Dustin McAmera (talk) 09:40, 19 February 2014 (PST)

Here's another idea: DoD Instruction 1330.21 of July 14, 2005 (PDF) gives the Armed Services Exchange Regulations (current, I think; clearly not the ones applicable in 1950s Japan!), and Enclosure 6 of that document lists the sorts of people who are authorised to be patrons of an Exchange and enjoy the full benefits. These include mostly Enlisted Personnel (my capitals); might that be a candidate for <EP>? That is, if you're found with an EP-marked camera in Japan, you'd better be an enlisted serviceman. --Dustin McAmera (talk) 10:51, 19 February 2014 (PST)

For what it's worth…here's a link that shows that EP also occurred as stickers on: Japanese audio gear and as lates as a Canon T50--Heritagefutures (talk) 00:30, 20 February 2014 (PST)

Perhaps we need to look at the time and circumstances of 1946 and the Canon S ll by Seiki Kogaku Ltd.

From [1] from the camera hall link-

[Marketed Oct. 1946

Original Price 48,000 yen (w/ Serenar 50mm f/3.5)

This was the first Canon camera to be given an English designation from the start. (Previous models were called "Standard Model," etc., in Japanese.) The S II was probably so named because it was the successor to the camera which later came to be called the Canon S. It was the first new model after the war. The non-universal, threaded lens mount was identical to the Canon J's. The viewfinder and coupled rangefinder were combined into a single window. During the post-war food shortage, Japan received various relief supplies from the Allied Powers. As collateral for these supplies, cameras were sold through occupation personnel exchanges. In effect, it was the company's first export camera and it drew attention.

Consequently, it became a national policy to favor the company for the procurement of metals, lens glass, electricity, fuel, etc. In September 1947, the corporate name was changed to "Canon Camera Company Ltd."]

[Now metals, rare earth glasses, food were in short supply. The favored status granted to many companies was based on a strict submission of prototype model approval by the C.P.O. office and the submission standard was scientific; with detailed drawings and materials list. For the kindness of support from the Allies, tax free production was to be sold only by marking the product, export production or EP. Early 1946 markings bear this out on Mamiya Six cameras with C.P.O. and MIOJ. Also Semi Leotax folding cameras have both been found with Katakana C.P.O. and Latin C.P.O. In all cases these products were NOT for the Japanese public at the time as taxation was very high on new products for the public, per the Japanese government. As a result, the Japanese public could not afford there own products from 1945~50 and continued to use pre war products. Export production was indeed sent to PX stores, ship stores and other Allied military installations throughout the world. The belief that these products were made just for Occupation military bases, is based on the fact that servicemen in the occupation forces saw the E.P. marking and assumed the item was made just for the base store. In reality it was a marking that the item was NOT too be taxed by the Japanese Government. In closing my comment, I was told by a retired scientists from the Bureau of Standards, Washington D.C. in 1990 at a Boston camera show that; EP marked cameras were sold in many countries outside of Japan in addition to PX stores in Japan. Regards, Don@Eastwestphoto Feb. 25,2014]

Very interesting observations, Don!--Heritagefutures (talk) 16:21, 25 February 2014 (PST)