Silverbased

A friend tipped me off to a great archive of magazine advertising with a collection of historical photography ads—going all the way back to the original 1888 Kodak.

Of special interest is a 1901 ad for the Kodak No. 2 Brownie (see a larger version from the source). As many know (and as I’ve written about before), Kodak launched an entirely new roll size for this camera, called 120—the same 120 film we’re still using today.

Kodak Brownie No. 2 ad, 1901 “Youth’s Companion” magazine

The No. 2 Brownie took 2-1/4 x 3-1/4 inch photos (aka 6×9 cm). But it’s interesting that the film length was originally shorter: Only 6 shots (today’s 120 would give 8).

Kodak had introduced an earlier Brownie using film size 117, at the startlingly low price of $1—making an all-out effort to sell cameras simple and cheap enough for children. So it’s not an accident that this ad uses an image of the curious little girl and her schoolbooks. (But what is the deal with that hat?!?)

The name “Brownie” and that scary figurine appearing on the table refer to a series of children’s illustrations drawn by Palmer Cox, very popular with children of the era. It’s not clear whether Kodak actually licensed any drawings from Cox, or merely created their own elf-like Brownie illustrations (which to be fair, had originated from Scottish folklore).

I have always wondered if the Brownie name was also a tip of the hat to Kodak’s original camera design wizard, Frank Brownell.

Compared to the original Brownie, the No. 2 took larger photos and, significantly, included a viewfinder! Two, actually—allowing you to frame photos horizontally or vertically. This helped justify the doubled, $2 price tag. With this addition, the No. 2 became the template for thousands of cheap box cameras to follow—both from Kodak, and its competitors, like Ansco.

Eventually the 120 size was taken up by other, top-quality cameras: First the Rolleiflex and later the Hasselblad. Both of these helped cement the reputation of 120 as a “serious camera” film.

But the association between 120 and Brownies remained, enough so that in Japan, many kept referring to the size as “Brownie film.” And in 1958, this inspired a name for Zenzaburo Yoshino’s innovative new 120 camera—called the Bronica.

Let’s hope 120 film survives somehow until at least the year 2021—in time to celebrate its 120th birthday.