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Kodak Brownie
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Kodak Brownie
The Brownie was a series of camera models made by Eastman Kodak and first released in 1900.
It introduced the snapshot to the masses by addressing the cost factor which had meant that amateur photography remained beyond the means of many people; the Pocket Kodak, for example, would cost most families in Britain nearly a whole month's wages.
The Brownie was a basic cardboard box camera with a simple convex-concave lens that took 2+1⁄4-inch square pictures on No. 117 roll film. It was conceived and marketed for the sale of Kodak roll films. Because of its simple controls and initial price of US$1 (equivalent to $39 in 2025) along with the low price of Kodak roll film and processing, the Brownie camera surpassed its marketing goal.
Frank A. Brownell invented the Brownie for the Eastman Kodak Company. Named after the Brownie characters popularised by the Canadian writer Palmer Cox, the camera was initially aimed at children. More than 150,000 Brownie cameras were shipped in the first year of production, and cost a mere 5 shillings in the United Kingdom. An improved model, called No. 2 Brownie, came in 1901, which produced larger 3.25-by-2.25-inch (1.44:1 aspect ratio) photos, cost $2, and was also a huge success.
Initially marketed to children, with Kodak using them to popularise photography, the Brownie achieved broader appeal as people realised that, although very simple in design and operation, it could produce very good results under the right conditions.
As they were ubiquitous, many iconic shots were taken on Brownies; on 15 April 1912, Bernice Palmer used a Kodak Brownie 2A, Model A to photograph the survivors on deck of the RMS Carpathia, on which Palmer was travelling. They were also taken to war by soldiers but by World War I the more compact Vest Pocket Kodak Camera as well as Kodak's Autographic Camera were the most frequently used.
Another group of people that became posthumously known for their huge photo archive is the Nicholas II of Russia family, especially its four daughters (known as the OTMA sisters). They even managed to make their Brownie models produce many panoramic 4:1 photos (see Gallery).
Having written an article in the 1940s for amateur photographers suggesting an expensive camera was unnecessary for quality photography, Picture Post photographer Bert Hardy used a Brownie camera to stage a carefully posed snapshot of 17-year-old Pat Stewart, a Tiller Girls dancer, with her friend, Wendy Clarke, sitting on railings of North Pier, Blackpool, for the cover of Picture Post.
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Kodak Brownie
The Brownie was a series of camera models made by Eastman Kodak and first released in 1900.
It introduced the snapshot to the masses by addressing the cost factor which had meant that amateur photography remained beyond the means of many people; the Pocket Kodak, for example, would cost most families in Britain nearly a whole month's wages.
The Brownie was a basic cardboard box camera with a simple convex-concave lens that took 2+1⁄4-inch square pictures on No. 117 roll film. It was conceived and marketed for the sale of Kodak roll films. Because of its simple controls and initial price of US$1 (equivalent to $39 in 2025) along with the low price of Kodak roll film and processing, the Brownie camera surpassed its marketing goal.
Frank A. Brownell invented the Brownie for the Eastman Kodak Company. Named after the Brownie characters popularised by the Canadian writer Palmer Cox, the camera was initially aimed at children. More than 150,000 Brownie cameras were shipped in the first year of production, and cost a mere 5 shillings in the United Kingdom. An improved model, called No. 2 Brownie, came in 1901, which produced larger 3.25-by-2.25-inch (1.44:1 aspect ratio) photos, cost $2, and was also a huge success.
Initially marketed to children, with Kodak using them to popularise photography, the Brownie achieved broader appeal as people realised that, although very simple in design and operation, it could produce very good results under the right conditions.
As they were ubiquitous, many iconic shots were taken on Brownies; on 15 April 1912, Bernice Palmer used a Kodak Brownie 2A, Model A to photograph the survivors on deck of the RMS Carpathia, on which Palmer was travelling. They were also taken to war by soldiers but by World War I the more compact Vest Pocket Kodak Camera as well as Kodak's Autographic Camera were the most frequently used.
Another group of people that became posthumously known for their huge photo archive is the Nicholas II of Russia family, especially its four daughters (known as the OTMA sisters). They even managed to make their Brownie models produce many panoramic 4:1 photos (see Gallery).
Having written an article in the 1940s for amateur photographers suggesting an expensive camera was unnecessary for quality photography, Picture Post photographer Bert Hardy used a Brownie camera to stage a carefully posed snapshot of 17-year-old Pat Stewart, a Tiller Girls dancer, with her friend, Wendy Clarke, sitting on railings of North Pier, Blackpool, for the cover of Picture Post.
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