THE
KLONDIKE CAMERA
American
Optical Company, New York
1898 -1900
The
Klondike, with its unmistakable front panel, was manufactured by
the American Optical Company and sold by E. & H.T. Anthony & Company of
New York.
According to an announcement in The Photographic Times, Volume XXX, No. 1 for January,1898,
"The American Optical Co. has decided to meet competition with a Five
Dollar Camera worthy of its well-known high grade standard, and their camera is
the Klondike, which takes a picture of the standard size, 3-1/4 x
4-1/4."
From Anthony's Illustrated Catalogue of
Photographic Equipments and Materials for Amateurs, February, 1898
The camera and shutter were designed by Edward F.
Edgecomb of New Haven, Connecticut, under Patent No.'s 638,102 and No. 638,103,
which were both dated November 28, 1899 and assigned to E. & H.T. Anthony
& Company:
Source: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Source: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Source: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Source: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Edgecomb's camera patent states "my invention relates to an improvement in that class of
portable cameras employing rolled sensitized films, the object being to produce
a camera the box of which is completed and covered preparatory to the
introduction of its equipment into it, to provide for the convenient
introduction and removal of the film and platen and for the effective exclusion
of light from the box when it is closed, and to furnish means for holding the
film in place against the front of the platen. A further object of my invention
is to produce a camera in which the number of movable parts is reduced to the
minimum consistent with a high character of effective work."
Edgecomb's shutter patent states "My invention
relates to an improvement in portable cameras, the object being to locate the
shutter mechanism and its various related instrumentalities in a movement-block
capable of being readily introduced into and removed from the camera-box to
arrange the instantaneous and time buttons at the front end of the box, so that
they may be operated without danger of moving it in either direction at the
time the exposure is made."
The camera's serial number 291, is revealed after
removing the front panel secured by eight screws:
The serial number is also seen stamped on the inside
base:
Based on two known examples of the Klondike, one
variation has been found. This earlier example with Serial No. 291, features
leather tie downs for the carry strap, versus brass retainers seen on what is
believed to be Serial No.312.
Although patented in 1899, the Klondike made its debut by February,1898 in Anthony's Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic
Equipments and Materials for Amateurs. Available for about three years,
the Klondike no longer appeared in Anthony's catalogues beyond 1900.
For its time, a camera with a rather unique shutter that
is almost never seen today.
Cover page from Anthony's Illustrated Catalogue
of Photographic Equipments and Materials for Amateurs, February, 1898
Cover of Anthony's Illustrated
Catalogue of Photographic Equipments and Materials for Amateurs, February, 1898