American Optical Co., Scovill Mfg. Co., props.
76 Camera (refers
only to size #203)(1876-1896)
Pocket Camera
American Optical Co.'s Apparatus Outfits
(#201-204)(1876-1886)
Centennial Outfit (#201-204)(1887-1896)
Dry Plate Making for Amateurs, Scovill & American Optical
Catalog, 1886, p. 35
Dry Plate Making for Amateurs, Scovill & American Optical
Catalog, 1886, p. 19
5x8
with The Waterbury Finder on top (finder reference:
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), distributed by Andrew J. Smith
(Providence, RI), 1886, p.
84)
Dry Plate Making for Amateurs, Scovill & American Optical
Catalog, 1886, p. 19
Date Introduced: 1876 ; Years
Manufactured: 1876-c.1898
Construction: rear focus;
via rack and pinion (single gear track on top of middle base rail) single
swing; reversing by two tripod mounts; three-piece, shifting lensboard
Materials: mahogany body; cherry base; red leather bellows;
brass hardware
Sizes Offered: Centennial
Outfits: #201=4x4; #202=4x5; #202A=4¼x5½;#203=5x8
(a.k.a. The 76 Camera);
#204=6½x8½
Notes: This is a series of
cameras confusing because of the various model names applied to it (this site
used to have two models, 76 and Centennial, but, upon study, it
appears that they are the same, and the 76 is a special size of the
Centennial).
The 76 Camera was introduced in 1876, hence the name 76. The outfit (with lens, dark-slides, case, etc.) was also called the Centennial Outfit since the United States was celebrating its centennial in 1876. But where the 76 Camera apparently only refers to the 5x8" version, there are various sizes for the Centennial Outfit (see Sizes Offered above). Both the 1883 Codman catalog and Scovill's Dry Plate Making book references state that No. 203 is the 76 camera. The Pocket Camera also appears to be the camera used in the Centennial Outfit.
Even more confusing, The Centennial Outfits were
used as a basis for what are called Instantaneous Outfits (e.g.,
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), distributed by Andrew J. Smith
(Providence, RI), 1886, p.
52):
#401=Outfit #202, Peerless lens, wooden drop shutter
#402=Outfit #202, #1 Darlot Rapid Hemispherical lens, wooden drop shutter
#403=Outfit #202, Morrison's Celebrated B Group lens, metal drop shutter
#404=Outfit #203, #2 Darlot Rapid Hemispherical lens, wooden drop shutter
#405=Outfit #203, Morrison's Celebrated B Group lens, metal drop shutter
Most confusing of all, The 76
Camera was offered in the #1 1888 Instantaneous Outfit,
but the #2 1888 Instantaneous Outfit featured
The Petite Camera and the #3 1888
Instantaneous Outfit featured The Mignon
Camera., as if the Instantaneous Outfit changed only for 1888.
Above are photos of a 5x8" camera equipped with a Scovill finder just like the engravings. The photos below are of a 4x5" camera. Both of the cameras were manufactured after 1885, the date of their Flammang patent rod and piston bed hardware. Both also have a shifting lensboard, which could be used to take stereo photos by exposing one side, shifting, then exposing the other. Note the slight variation in hardware to raise or lower the lensboard. The earliest 76 cameras were described in literature as having a rear focusing screw (but even the early 76 wet-plate version shown in this website does not have a focusing screw), while later ones are illustrated in literature with rack and pinion focus wheel (as above). It's brass guides on the bed could stand up to hard use. Like most American Optical equipment, The 76/Centennial is an extremely well crafted instrument.
References:
Photographic Times 5, July 1875, p. 168-169 (introduced)
American Optical Catalog, 1878, p. 19-20
The Photographer's Friend, 7th ed, Richard Walsl (Baltimore,
MD) Catalog, 1882, p. 51
Illustrated Catalogue of General Photographic Supplies,
Thos. H. McCollin (Philadelphia, PA), 1882, p. 15
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY),
distributed by Wilson, Hood & Co. (Philadelphia, PA) Catalog, 1883
How to
Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, Scovill Mfg. Co., distributed
by C.H. Codman (Boston, MA), 1883, p. 13
The
Photographic Times and American Photographer, Vol. XIV, No. 158, New Series No.
38, Scovill Mfg. Co., February 1884, ads p. 48 (in an ad for Wilson, Hood &
Co.
The Photographic Amateur, 2nd Edition,
J. Traill Taylor, Scovill Mfg. Co. pub. (New York, NY), 1883,
2nd Ed. about 1885, p.
a11
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), distributed by Andrew J. Smith
(Providence, RI), 1886, p.
35
Scovill's
Photo. Series No. 12, Photographic Chemistry,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), 1886, p.
a19
Scovill's
Photo. Series No. 20, Dry Plate Making for Amateurs,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), 1886, p.
a27
Catalog P, Photographic Material, J. W. Queen & Co. (Philadelphia, PA), 1886, p. 60
(Queen designations P-340 through P-344)
Scovill's
Photo. Series No. 20, Dry Plate Making for Amateurs,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), 1886, p.
a11
(instantaneous outfits, p.
a24)
How to
Make Pictures, 4th edition, Henry Clay Price, Scovill Mfg. Co., publishers
(New York, NY), dated 1887, copyright 1886, p.a10
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), distributed by C.H. Codman & Co.
(Boston, MA), April 1887, p. a10
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY),
undated but about January 1888,
p. 33
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), distributed by
C.H. Codman & Co. (Boston, MA), September 1888, p.
22
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), distributed by Buchanan, Bromley & Co. (Philadelphia, PA) Catalog, 1888
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
The Scovill & Adams Co.
(New York, NY), January 1889, p. 21
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
The Scovill & Adams Co. (New York, NY), distributed by Buchanan, Bromley & Co. (Philadelphia, PA) Catalog, 1889
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, The Scovill
& Adams
Co. (New York, NY), distributed by Horgan, Robey & Co.
(Boston, MA), June 1891, p. 13
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List, The Scovill and Adams
Co. (New York, NY), January 1892, p.
13
How to Make Photographs and a Descriptive
Catalogue of Photographic Materials Illustrated,
The Scovill & Adams Co.
(New York, NY), 1896, p. 32
(as Centennial Outfits)
4x5
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