Sunday, September 11, 2011

2 Things Challenge: Satisfaction/Old

The 2 Things Challenge this week was Satisfaction/Old.
This is my first camera.  I got it for Christmas when I was 11 years old, and believe me, that makes it OLD.  

This may very well be the first photo I ever took with that camera on Christmas Day, 1959.  The date says January, 1960, but in those days it was roll film, which was a pain to load without ruining it, and you didn't develop the roll until you had taken up the 12 or 24 frames.  I'm not even sure Polaroid had come out by then.
The subjects are my grandmother who lived with us, and my cousin and his mother.  He was almost exactly my age (2 days difference, he was older), and as you can see, he got a camera for Christmas that year too.  He always came over on Christmas Day to see what we got and to show us what he got.

Although the photos were always blurry and poorly exposed, I got quite a bit of SATISFACTION from that old camera, even today as I scan in the few surviving photos I took with it.  I later owned many Kodak Instamatics, even the little bitty 110 variety, but I think this is the only one I still have from before the SLRs which came much later in life.

4 comments:

ShEiLa said...

You Mr. have an awesome post!!!! I love it! I am amazed that you still have the camera. (I don't have my first camera) I love that it says 'Made in the USA'. Now most electronics are made over seas.

ToOdLeS.

Vivian aka Deborah said...

Very cool photos, Larry, for this weeks 2 things challenge. I love old cameras...Looks like your old camera had a built in flash and that big huge, blinding light bulb flash.

I still have my first camera, don't name what name it is, but I remember it took 126 spool roll film, and if i didn't remember to wind it forward after each picture I took, I got double exposures which were pretty cool looking.

Susan said...

What a super cool camera. Glad you kept it.

Unknown said...

Incredible. I wish I would have been more into photography before digital. There is something so personal about seeing and using a camera like this. The idea of changing a bulb with each snap. Winding a roll of film. Getting it developed, or better yet developing it yourself and doing some dodging and burning. Your submission this week really captured the essence of the theme. Well done and thanks for sharing.