Century Camera No. 1

Recently I was asked what is my favorite manufacture to collect? That is a tough question. I am sure if you ask a decent size group of collectors there would be some obvious standouts, such as Leica, Rollie, or even Kodak; however I must admit my top interest lies in a company with a unique story. The Century Camera Company, which would be later known as Graflex, an early to mid-twentieth century force in American made professional cameras.

This is one of my Century Cameras, it is the Century No.1 from around 1902 – 1917, a 6.5 x 8.5 view camera that was best suited in the studio, but similar to a field camera, could fold up to go on the road. This style camera would have been a favorite for early wedding photographers who could use it in the studio for the formal portraits, and then take it to the church for the family picture. It is the smallest of my four Century Studio Cameras that I currently have, and though not at all small in camera terms it is dwarfed by my other Century studio cameras of the period such as the massive 11×14 No.8 with its dual bellows extension system. It has a period accurate lens, the CCC Automatic. What made it automatic? In a time when most lenses had to be cocked prior to firing, the Automatic reset with each use eliminating the need to fiddle with the shutter between shots.

So back to the company, what makes the story so unique? That involves the Century Camera Company, the Folmer and Schwing Manufacturing Company, George Eastman’s purchasing of both companies for Kodak in the early years of the twentieth century, and a lawsuit filed by the United States.

Century Camera Company was founded in 1900 by three former employees of Rochester Optical & Camera Company. The high-end cameras they produced were not revolutionary in design, what set Century apart was the marketing. Similar to Sears & Roebuck, Century Camera hit the ground running with a catalog they distributed far and wide to a growing United States and Canada. No longer did a professional or advanced photographer need to travel to a large city to buy a camera and accessories. They simply consulted the catalog, mailed in their purchase, and then met their new mahogany workhorse at the train station.

This system worked so well that by 1902 the fledgling company had 25% of the plate camera market. Century excelled both with marketing amateur folding plate cameras, and large professional studio cameras. This success caught the eye of George Eastman who took notice of the company and purchased it in 1903 only three years after being formed. The company was allowed to continue on as Century Camera Company until 1907 when they became the Century Division of Eastman Kodak.

In 1904 Folmer changed the complicated shutter system in the Graflex camera to a simple cloth curtain with a series of apertures of different widths. This reliable system made the early SLR Camera an immediate success for Folmer and Schwing. In 1905 George Eastman purchased the Folmer and Schwing Manufacturing Company and moved it to Rochester into the same building occupied by Century Camera Company. In 1907 the company became the Folmer and Schwing Division of Eastman Kodak Company, and in 1917 the Folmer-Century Division.

That could have been the end of the story, Century and Folmer-Schwing gobbled up by the corporate giant and left to eventually fade away into the Kodak brand. However in 1921 U.S. v. Eastman Kodak, found that Kodak engaged in unfair business practices that limited competition & tried to control prices. As a result of the antitrust action the Folmer-Century Division of Eastman Kodak Company was offered for sale, but there were no buyers. So finally in 1926 the Folmer Graflex Corp. was organized as an independent corporation. The company became known as “Graflex Inc.” in 1945.

The iconic Graflex Press Camera would become synonymous with 1940s & 50s Photojournalist both in reality and in the movies. However Graflex would also be known for innovations such as a single rail all metal view camera the Graphic View, the Graflok back that allowed for easy removal of ground glass focal screens for placement of roll film or polaroid backs, and an array of well built cameras. The Century heritage would live on with Graflex using Century as the name for various cameras and a series of large format shutters.

In August 1956 Graflex became a division of General Precision Equipment Corporation. It marked a period of slowing innovation at a time companies such as Nikon and Canon were preparing to unveil 35mm SLR cameras that would set the standard for decades to come. In 1966 Graflex became a Division of the Singer Corporation, and after a series of name changes had all but faded away by late 1970’s. However from 1900 through the 1950s Folmer-Century Graflex produced some great America built cameras well worth collecting.

Bibliography

Camera Wiki – http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Century
THE ROCHESTER CAMERA AND LENS COMPANIES by R. Kingslake – https://www.psnwa.org/ns/camera-makers-of-rochester-new-york/
Historic Camera – http://www.historiccamera.com/cgi-bin/librarium2/pm.cgi?action=app_display&app=datasheet&app_id=1153
Graflex.org – https://graflex.org/