Sunart Photo Co., Rochester, NY
Columbian View Camera
Jas. H. Smith & Co. Catalog, 1901, p. 19
6½ x 8½
Date Introduced: - ; Years
Manufactured: c. 1901
Construction: back focus via
push-pull; double swing; reversing by
removable back;
Materials: mahogany body, cherry base, brass hardware,
black fabric bellows
Sizes Offered: 6½x8½; 8x10
Notes: This camera is in the 1901 Jas. H. Smith catalog.
The other camera in this catalog, the
Magic View, has been found with a label that
states manufactured by the Sunart Photo Co., Rochester, NY". Since both
cameras in the catalog share that have that
distinctive backwards facing teardrop shaped rear swing hardware,
it is reasonable to assume that both were made by Sunart, and merely re-named by
Smith. Sunart was purchased by the Seneca Camera Mfg. Co. in 1902.
Since this camera is essentially the Seneca
Competitor (except it is push-pull focus rather than rack and pinion),
it is tempting to view this as the precursor to the Competitor. Chicago (the
location of Jas. H. Smith & Co.) hosted the Columbian Exposition in 1893. It is
not much of a stretch to imagine that Smith derived their
name for this camera from that expo. The mystery of this camera continues in that the camera photographed above,
which is the spitting image of the Smith engraving, has an apparently genuine Century
Camera Co. Century label, and even sports a CCC (Century Camera Co.)
shutter. Surely the Smith Co. is playing a practical
joke - genuine Century cameras
have a completely different
design and hardware.
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