Boston Camera Co., Boston, MA

Boston Reversible Back Camera

6.5 X 8.5

Date Introduced: - ; Years Manufactured: c. 1888-89
Construction: front focus via rack and pinion (two gear tracks on top of base rails); single swing; reversing by removable back; three-piece lensboard
Materials: mahogany wood body; cherry base; black fabric bellows; brass hardware
Sizes Offered: 5x7; 5x8; 6½x8½; 8x10
Notes: Boston Camera Company, 36 India St., Boston, Mass. was founded in 1884 by Samuel Turner.  It is known more for its Hawkeye Detective Camera, which it started to manufacture in 1888, than its view cameras.  The Boston Camera Co. was bought out by the Blair Camera Co. in 1890.  From then on, Blair view cameras tended to have the peculiar triangular wooded corners (with a hole) on their backs, as seen on the example above.  These types of backs have ground glass that may be extracted by removing a strip of wood held in place by two screws.  This camera is the obvious ancestor of the Blair Reversible Back Camera, Improved Variation 1.

References:  
ad reprint in Anthony, The Man, The Company, The Cameras, William P. Marder, et al, 1982, p. 276
 

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