If These Shirts Could Talk: The Tantalizing Tales Behind Used Clothes
The mysterious packages kept arriving, some from eBay, others from the Home …
Jockeying for Position: How Boxers and Briefs Got Into Men's Pants
Just as underclothes are shielded from public view, the evolution of men's most intimate apparel is shrouded in secrecy. But the story of men's underwear is about more …
Gloriously Grotesque 19th-Century Pipes
The meerschaum pipes carved in Eastern Europe at the end of the 19th century are among the most bizarre and improbable concoctions in decorative art. Some feature …
In the Hot Seat: Is Your Antique Windsor a Fake?
While researching her book, "Killer Stuff and Tons of Money," Maureen Stanton came across all sorts of characters. For years, she shadowed her antiques-dealer friend …
Bizarro Beauty Products, from 1889 to Now
We tend to think of the union of vanity and technology as a particularly modern affliction. It's only recently that science brought the world botox and collagen injections, skin peels, liposucti…
Love at First Kite: How Pizza and Pente Led to One Oklahoman's High-Flying Obsession
Vintage kites from all over the world hang from the ceiling and walls of Richard Dermer’s popula…
Pin-Up Queens: Three Female Artists Who Shaped the American Dream Girl
It’s easy to think of pin-up art as a charming relic of the old boys’ club—images that might line the walls of a …
Say Ahhh: An Oral Surgeon's Quest to Reimagine the Garage-Band Guitar
It’s not unusual for men of a certain age to have a soft spot in their hearts for the look of vintage guitars and the sound…
Tokens for Sweethearts, in Times of War
A keepsake, an item that recognizes a loved one, strikes a deep, sentimental chord in each of us—particularly that of a sweetheart. The popularity of keepsakes grew in the United States during the period from 1917 to 1919 as our country ent…
American Picker Dream, Part I: Mike Wolfe On His Love Affair With Bikes
I was walking to school one day and saw all these bikes in the garbage. I was just amazed because I didn't have one and I found it incredible that anyone was throwing them out. So I gathered…
What is it? | Cameras669 of 771 |  |  |
Posted 2 years ago
Adger
(1 item)
The above was with my grandfather's cameras, probably purchased around 1890's or so. The back has a sliding focusing glass / film holder about 2 1/4 x 3 1/4. Extension tube along with "camera." Anyone out there know what it is?
Help us close this case. Add your knowledge below.
Create an account or login in order to post a comment.
CamerasAntique and vintage cameras are valued by collectors for many reasons, from…
Can you post clearer images showing some of the construction detail? Is there a lens in the tube, and if so, does it create a sharp image on the ground glass? If there is no lens, my thought is this might be a microscope camera since there doesn't appear to be focusing mechanics, etc.
There is no lens. My origional thought was the same as yours, that it must be a microscope camera. I know grandfather took pictures through his microscope as I have seen them. I had donated them along with his notes years ago to Va Tech where he taught 1890-1920 appx. There are no identifying marks on the device, it's a box, the brass piece, and the sliding back. I have his R&J Beck microscope and it does fit on top. I have been told by a supposed expert that it is not a microscope camera as there is no focusing mechanism. I assumed that the focusing was done through the microscope.