While visiting South Carolina, I’ve stopped at several antique stores. In one, I found this Brownie Kodak Hawkeye Flash Model camera. It made me smile. My Grandmother had one, and it was the first camera I ever used.
From visiting sites on the internet, I have been able to determine that this model was produced from 1949 to 1961. Based upon the code printed on the inside, this particular camera was produced in March of 1952.
The cost of the camera was $5.50, the pin and screw flash attachment would have been an additional $7.00, and it used 620 film.
I own four cameras and a phone that is basically my go-to-camera. I certainly didn’t pay $12.50 for any of them. 🙂
Do I want to go back to these days? Not really, but I do enjoy the trip down memory lane and thinking about how far photography has advanced. I love taking lots of photos and then being able to review them for the best one at no additional cost.
I certainly remember the days of film developing and waiting for the call that the photos were ready for pickup. I could never wait to leave the store before opening up the little booklet to see if I’d captured anything.
The blogging community depends upon instant digital photography. We snap, choose, edit, and upload in a matter of minutes if not seconds.
Why did I pay $14 for this old camera? Memories. You just can’t put a price on good memories. 🙂
NewEnglandGardenAndThread 
I have one of those! I got it when I was in elementary school and it is on display in a cabinet with some of our other old cameras. Images of my friends from elementary school are saved forever on those square, black and white photos. Thanks for bringing back memories of the good old days!
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Those old black and whites are priceless. 🙂
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That is so cool. I boutht one a few years back salso. They are little treasures. Cheers!
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With your photography skills, you could probably still get a good photo from it. 🙂
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I was going to make some photos with it but got distracted. One day!
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I have lots of little B&W photos in my photo box, from when I was a child (and later.) I do love the ease of digital, but it’s fun to look back at these, even the bad ones.
janet
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Nothing beats digital except the memories. 🙂
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I concur.
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At $14 that camera was a bargain. No wonder you couldn’t resist.
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So true. But we treasured photos more then than we do now. We have so few photos printed, I wonder if we will end up with fewer images to pass on to future generations.
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You certainly have a valid point there. I actually print photos only once or twice a year and those are usually people shots. The rest just sit in limbo on a computer or a flash drive. People use to enjoy looking at someone else’s photos or albums, but today it is so instantaneous that the younger generations are bored and have no interest in ‘looking’ at them.
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I don’t remember that one specifically, but definitely the models that had disposable flashbulbs – and the trips to the drug store hoping to find that my (black and white) pictures turned out well! What an explosion in technology for those of us in this same age group! From clunky cameras, phones attached to the wall – school research done at the library…..what a ride!
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The anticipation of waiting for those photos was something else, and then you might start looking and all you’d have is blur. 🙂 And, I certainly remember riding the city bus to do research at the library. Now you just ask a question out loud, and poof you have an answer. Where’s the fun in that? 🙂
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So glad you bought it! What memories! We used to say we got our photo bug gene from my Dad but later found out he got it from his Mom! I have a picture of her holding a very similar camera in about 1964. Sure wish I had it!
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I wish you had it too. 🙂
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So many things old evoke memories and I can’t help but wonder what things will make the same true for our kids.
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Now you’ve come up with a good topic for a post. 🙂
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I believe you can’t have enough old cameras.
One day I will put mine, several with no brand names, in a frame for wall art. In the meantime, I place them around the house. I think it freaks some people out wondering if they are being recorded.
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I bet you have a good chuckle as they ‘eye’ all those cameras. 🙂
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Very cool! Yes, you definitely can’t put a price on memories 🙂
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That was a pretty good find. For that kind of money, it’s worth having the memories. It’s also good that you were able to get the flash.
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I wasn’t able to get a flash, but it sure would have been a fun find. I watched a YouTube on how it screwed in. Can you imagine today, screwing a flash in? Tools – we’d all need tools. 🙂
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I remember my dad taking pictures with the near-original Polaroid camera when you had to pull it out, count a certain number of seconds and then coat the picture. Such dedication.
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I remember when I bought my ‘instant’ camera, I thought it couldn’t get any better than that. I still have some of those photos in a box. They aren’t very good looking but they did last. 🙂
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Taking photos wasn’t a thing in my family. Photos from my youth are rare. The cost of photography just made it an unnecessary luxury. Digital is the BEST and I’m always in a rush to look at the results IMMEDIATELY.
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I have a small collection of vintage cameras that belonged to my father. They remind me of childhood. He was always snapping photos, had his own darkroom and all that. I’ve long wondered if maybe one of the kids would want to experiment with them…so far, no takers.
Digital is awesome, there’s no way around it, but it’s also nice to hang analog photos, or heaven forbid, hold them in your hands. 🙂
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I have the biggest urge to find a real roll of film, take some shots, and see what develops. 🙂
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I think you should 🙂
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What a find! I would have bought it too.
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True, there’s no price on memories! Don’t know any of the antique cameras, because I started quite late with my interest in good images – mainly because of painting;)
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Ironically, I just came across an old camera (“old” meaning it used a roll of film) the other day and held it for a while in awe of its heft. I carried that around? I still think flashbulbs were the greatest because they meant we could take photos indoors. That was huge! And I remember that camera in your post. Had one myself. Very high tech — and, boy, were those bulbs hot after they went off! Thanks for this Throwback Thursday!
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Things sure have changed in a few short years. I love my digital camera. I can take as many photos as I want and it doesn’t cost me a thing. 🙂
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Nostalgia! Oh, I remember that long wait– over a week in the mail, sometimes longer. I must admit that I prefer the ease and instant gratification of digital!
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EVERYONE had one of those cameras. They were either really awful, or not too bad, depending on who made the lens. The ones made by Leica were not too bad and sometimes, if you got lucky, you could actually take a reasonably sharp picture. The ones made by Kodak were sometimes not even lenses, just chunks of glass. You could take a lot of pictures and never get a good one. But we all had them. They were THE family camera in the U.S. I think also in parts of Europe.
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That was quite the find and I can see why you couldn’t pass it up! :0 ) This post reminded me of while watching “The Crown” series recently, about the life of Queen Elizabeth, I couldn’t help but marvel at the technological changes during the course of her life, and mine as well.
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I love any old film camera Judy, I studied photography at college in the days of film and darkrooms. Mistakes were are hard to rectify, so more thought was put into each shot. I agree nothing replaces a good memory!
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I remember with a smile the ays when our daughter used a half bath for a darkroom. 🙂
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A wonderful find!
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I have a German camera in an unraveling brown leather case and for me, it is all about my Dad! We are blessed with so many great pictures from this camera. It was hard to think about giving it up, so it is in a tub of built in memories. 🙂 Thank you, Judy for the wave of nostalgia today.
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