QUTA SELF-CASING CAMERA
Quta Camera & Plate Company, 20 West 15th
Street, New York City 1904-1906
The Quta Camera
& Plate Company is best known today for their ingenious tintype street
camera, the Quta Photo Machine,
manufactured between 1904 and 1911.
The Photo Machine's design was patented by Herbert Edward
Hickox, under Patent No. 697,624 dated April 15, 1902. Hickox also patented a subsequent ferrotype
street camera, the Taquta, with a
pedestal-mounted design, Patent No. 832,316 on October 2, 1906. The company is known to have existed between
1904 and 1919, based on advertisements and company records. The Annual
Report of the State Treasurer (New York) for the Fiscal Year Ending September
30, 1904, lists the Quta Camera & Plate Company. William J. Brady is listed in the Directory
of Directors in the City of New York for 1915-1916 as Secretary and Director of
the Quta Camera & Plate Company. They are known to have occupied at least
three addresses in New York:
20 West 15th
Street, New York City (1904-1906) (1904 and 1906 ads)
88 Cypress
Avenue, New York (1905 ad, Polk's Directory 1 March 1909)
250 11th Ave,
New York (Trow's/Polk's Directory 1918-1919)
Quta manufactured at least one self-casing camera, this
5x7 example, equipped with a Scientific Lens Company, extreme wide angle 6-1/2
x 8-1/2 lens in a Unicum Shutter. Having red bellows, it was most likely
manufactured between 1904-1906 as many camera companies were transitioning to
black bellows about 1906. Other than the Quta name stamped on the lens standard
base, there are no other markings or identification. The metal post lens standard with the knurled-nut
tensioning feature appears identical to that found on Rochester Optical's Premo
Folding Film Camera No. 2. Although the
Quta and this Premo model share the same timeframe, there are no similar
Rochester Optical cameras to suggest that the Quta was private branded. Very few references or advertisements have
been seen for Quta products. They are known to have marketed photographic
supplies to support their Quta Photo Machine and a paper cutter has been seen
with the Quta company name.
This is one of only two Quta self-casing 5x7 cameras that
I've ever encountered. With no other self-casing
examples seen, and maybe a half-dozen or so Quta Photo Machines known to exist,
it's safe to say that any Quta camera can be considered extremely scarce, or in
the case of the Quta Photo Machine, rare.