BOSTON BULL'S-EYE IMPROVED "SPECIAL"
Boston Camera Manufacturing Company, 380
Tremont Street, Boston, Massachusetts 1895
One variant of Boston's
Bull's-Eye based on its general design, is actually a distinct model
referred to in Boston Camera Manufacturing's 1895 advertisements as the Improved "Special". This
camera appears to be the last iteration in the 3-1/2 x 3-1/2 Boston Bull's-Eye's
history.
As noted in The
American Amateur Photographer, Volume VII, No. 5 for May, 1895,
"models of the improved Bull's Eye cameras" were exhibited at the
Annual Exhibition of the Boston Camera Club held April 3-20, 1895. The report went
on to state that "It will be noticed that the old idea of sliding one part
of the camera, telescopic fashion, within the other is done away with, and the
sides of the outer case, formerly rigid, are now hinged, thus saving weight and
space. The danger of having more joints than formerly where light might enter
the camera, is overcome somewhat by the use of a strip of black guard paper on
the back of the film."
This "telescopic fashion" was in reference to previous
versions of the 3-1/2 x 3-1/2 Boston Bull's-Eyes, such as the Ebonite example
below, which were all constructed with a top and center section that separated
from the bottom shell to facilitate loading:
Boston Bull's-Eye Ebonite
The Improved "Special" was constructed with
leather-hinged side panels that swung out, along with a removable back panel. This
particular model could also be used with an accessory back that replaced the
standard panel with the D-shaped window. This permitted the use of glass plate
holders rather than roll film:
From The American Amateur
Photographer, Volume VII, No. 5 for May, 1895
From The American Amateur
Photographer, Volume VII, No. 7 for July, 1895
The Bull's-Eye Improved "Special" measures 4-13/16"
wide, 6" deep and 4-1/2" tall. Compared against the standard
Bull's-Eye version, it's about 1/8" wider and 1/8" deeper and
reportedly measured approximately 1/2" deeper with the plate back
accessory attached.
This example, with Serial No. 160 and retaining its
"Boston Camera Mfg. Co." paper label, is stamped on the film carriage
with the patent dates December 1, 1891 and January 9, 1894, with other patents
pending:
These dates refer to Patent
No. 464,260 granted to Abner G.
Tisdell of Brooklyn, New York on December 1, 1891 for the camera's shutter
design:
Source: U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office Boston Bull's-Eye
Shutter
And to Patent No. 512,655
granted to William H. Lewis of Huntington, New York, on January 9, 1894, for elements
of his patent that applied to the Bull's-Eye's shutter. Lewis' patent was
assigned to the Blair Camera Company of Boston, Massachusetts, and his shutter
design is the one used in Anthony's
P.D.Q. Detective Camera. The P.D.Q. also incorporated four of Lewis' other
patents (one being shared with Erastus B. Barker), that were all assigned to E.
& H.T. Anthony & Company.
Source:
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Anthony P.D.Q. Detective Camera
Anthony P.D.Q. Detective Camera Shutter
Per Jos Erdkamp's great article, The Legacy of the Boston Bull's-Eye Camera, "The
shutter was designed by Frederick H. Kelley at Blair Camera Company in 1892,
and it was a modification of Abner G. Tisdell's shutter (United States Patent
464,260)".
Fred H. Kelley as a co-patentee, held at least five other
patents with Thomas H. Blair, two of which were shutter designs for the Blair Hawk-Eye Detective and the Blair Kamaret. Comparing Tisdell's
patent drawing alongside the Bull's-Eye's shutter, the similarities are evident.
It's undetermined whether Kelley ever applied for or secured a patent for his
modified design.
Probably introduced just four or five months before
Boston Camera Manufacturing was acquired by Eastman Kodak in August, 1895,
relatively few Bull's-Eye Improved
"Special"s were built, making it one of the hardest models to
locate today from this short-lived company.
As seen in the ad below, Boston Camera Manufacturing's Improved
"Special", was also offered by the American Camera Mfg. Company as the Special Buckeye. Boston Camera Manufacturing's 3-1/2 x 3-1/2
Bull's-Eye and 4x5 Bull's-Eye were also offered by American Camera Mfg. Company
as the Regular Buckeye and the 4x5 Special Buckeye, respectively:
From Anthony's Photographic Bulletin, December, 1896 Source: HathiTrust Digital Library