Baby Brownie Special
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Baby Brownie SpecialEntry/Object ID
334Tags
IconicDescription
The Baby Brownie Special is a quintessential example of Art Deco industrial design, crafted by the legendary Walter Dorwin Teague. While your high-end SLRs like the Olympus OM-1 represent mechanical precision, this little gem represents the democratization of photography. It was designed to be as simple as humanly possible: "You press the button, we do the rest." Technically, the body is made entirely of Bakelite, an early plastic that allowed for those beautiful vertical "speed lines" molded into the casing. It features a simple rotary shutter and a fixed-focus lens. There are no settings for aperture or shutter speed; you simply frame your subject through the fold-up optical viewfinder on top and press the white button on the side. The Red Window: Like your Agfa Speedex, the back of this camera features a red window. Since 127 film had paper backing with numbers printed on it, you would wind the cream-colored knob on top until the next number appeared in the window to prevent double exposures. This unit is in wonderful cosmetic condition, retaining its original braided handle. Though 127 film is no longer a standard drugstore item, it is still produced by specialty manufacturers today, meaning this 70-year-old Bakelite box is still a functional photographic tool.Category
Camera, Box, 127 Film
Media Type