Century Penny Picture, Folmer Multiple Camera
Folmer Multiple Camera showing one image of four on 5x7 - inch.
Folmer Multiple Camera, 1929.
By Thomas Evans
If you were touring Niagara Falls or strolling along the boardwalk in Atlantic City in the early years of the 20th Century, you would have probably encountered itinerant photographers, or walk by photographic studios, that used an odd looking camera on a wooden stand. The photographer would encourage you and your honey to pose for a number of small pictures, costing only a penny apiece. Later in the Century the price might have been 25 cents each. There were a number of cameras that were designed to economically make multiple images on one sheet of film, which the photographer could develop and contact-print quickly, and sell to the customer. These small images could then be cut from the sheet and given to one’s friends as souvenirs, or slipped in a letter, or placed in a locket, and so forth.
The Century Penny Picture Camera was made by the Century Camera Company of Rochester, NY, from 1900 to 1907, when the company was purchased by the Eastman Kodak Company. The Folmer & Schwing Division of EKC continued to manufacture the camera until they separated from Kodak in 1926. Approximately 550 Penny Picture Cameras were made.
Century Penny Picture Camera, reversible back, including a full set of diaphragm kits and one 5x7 View Plate Holder, for 1 to 24 Photos on 5 x 7 Century Plate Holder 5 x 7 - $22.50 in 1902.
Description from the 1902 catalog: “Without question, the Century Penny Picture Camera is the most substantial and efficient camera of its kind ever placed on the market. The camera is solidly constructed, of mahogany and cherry, and has a bellows capacity of 17 inches. The back is made to slide both vertically and horizontally and permits making one, two, four, six, eight, twelve, sixteen or twenty-four exposures on the same 5 x 7 plate. This camera is fitted with a quick-acting focusing knob, while all working parts have been constructed of material sufficiently heavy to overcome the many objectionable features of the multiplying cameras heretofore supplied. Portrait Lens, and Packard Shutter, leaves nothing to be desired in the line of a complete penny picture outfit. The specific feature of this outfit is the new spacing device which consists of detachable rods with appropriate holes, one rod controlling the horizontal movements and the other the vertical ones. By setting the rod in advance for the spacing desired, the sliding back will register without further attention, by moving to successive holes, as indicated by the clicks. The focal capacity of the Century Penny picture camera is 17 in. size of lens board is 6 1/2 x 6 1/2 in.”
Folmer & Schwing Multiple Back Camera.
The Eastman Kodak Company also purchased the Folmer & Schwing Manufacturing Company of New York in the first decade of the 20th Century, and when the Century Camera Company was added to Kodak, the F&S Division was put in charge of manufacturing the Century line of cameras. F&S produced the Penny Picture until the company separated from EKC in 1929. From 1929 to 1937, Folmer & Schwing produced the Multiple Camera, which was essentially the same as the Penny Picture. They also produced the Folmer Multiplying Back that could be attached to other cameras, such as the Century Studio cameras and the Century Universal View Camera. Approximately 420 Multiple Cameras were made.
Century Multiple Camera from the 1937 Folmer Graflex Catalog.
The 1937 Professional Apparatus Catalog described the Century Multiple Camera in this way:
“For the photographer who requires one camera capable of handling a wide variety of work, the Century Multiple Camera will prove of real interest. While it was designed primarily for economical production of small sized negatives, it is readily adapted for straight portrait or group work up to the full 5x7 size.
Reversible kits, which fit smoothly into the camera back, make possible the taking of 1, 2, 4, 9, 16 or 20 exposures on one 5x7 film or plate. The respective picture sizes obtained are: 5x7”, 3 3/16 x 4 ½”, 2 ¼ x 3 3/16”, 1 7/16 x 2 1/8”, 1 1/8 x 1 5/8”, and 1 1/8 x 1 ¼”. An additional kit – the No. 4C – which makes four full length pictures each 1 9/16 x 4 ½” on one horizontal film or plate is supplied. Two spacing bars fit respectively into the top and side of the camera back to automatically control the number of pictures and their location on the film or plate. These two bars govern the vertical and horizontal shift of the back which is moved easily and with certainty into the correct positions.”
The mess of kits, showing on the left the '4C' kit for making four vertical pictures on a 5x7 inch sheet of film.
The back of the 1929 Folmer Multiple Camera. The carriage slides from side to side (earning the camera the nickname of 'Ping-Pong Camera') and the entire back moves up and down.
Operation of the Multiple Camera Back
All this is rather complicated to read about, but fairly simple to operate when standing at the back of the camera. The Multiple Camera I looked at came with this instruction card thumb-tacked to it.
Instructions for operating the Folmer Multiple Camera and Folmer Multiplying Back.
There are two 1/4" square brass bars, ‘A’ and ‘B’. There is a plate on the camera at the top-left (looking at the back of the camera) that says to use bar ‘A’ at that location when making vertical images, and bar ‘B’ there when making horizontal images. This location governs the left and right sliding adjustment of the back by having holes drilled into it at different locations, into which a pin on a spring fits to lock the position.
Upper-left-hand bar position, looking at the back of the camera.
The other bar is located top-right (looking at the back of the camera), and governs up and down movement of the back in the same way.
Upper-right-hand bar position, when looking at the back of the camera.
Each bar can be turned to allow the use of one of four different sets of holes. Bar ‘A’ sides are marked ‘1’, ‘4’, ‘16-20’, and ‘9’. Bar ‘B’ sides are marked ‘8’ and (on the other end) ‘20’, ‘16’, ‘1-9’, and ‘2-4’. (The ‘16-20’, ‘1-9’ and ‘2-4’ markings are marked on the ends of the bar vertically, with the 16 above the 20, the 1 above the 9, and the 2 above the 4, which I believe means that this face is to show for both 4 images and for 9 images on 5x7", & etc.) These numbers correspond to the columns on the instruction card labeled “Markings to show on card A” and “Markings to show on card B”. And these numbers also correspond to the numbers stamped on the different small cones, or “kits”.
The larger kits have a six inch square base, while the smaller have a four inch square base that is designed to fit into a six inch square adapter.
So, if one where to take four vertical images on a 5x7" film, one would install the number 4 kit in the vertical orientation,
The Number 4 kit installed under the ground glass panel.
and then arrange Bar ‘A’ in the upper-left position with the side marked ‘4’ showing.
Bar 'A' in the Upper-left-hand position with the '4' side facing out.
And install bar ‘B’ in the upper-right position with the side marked ‘2-4’ showing.
Bar 'B' in the upper-right-hand position with the '2 - 4' side facing out.
One then has the choice of two holes in each bar, pairs of which, when engaged with the spring-loaded pegs, correspond to the four quarters of the 5x7" film.
In operation, the photographer moves the back carriage so that the film will be exposed in the first position (say, the upper left-hand corner). The image is focused on the ground glass. The film holder is inserted and dark slide withdrawn. The sitter is charmed and the exposure is made. Then the back carriage is moved to the next position (with four-up on 5x7, say, the upper right-hand corner) and the next exposure is made on the same piece of film, and so on, until all four, or however many, exposures are made. Then the dark slide is returned and the film holder is withdrawn.
When I was refurbishing this Folmer Multiple camera, I removed the Instruction card above, which had been thumb-tacked to the back of the camera, and found these images underneath it. The camera was new in 1929, so these probably date from that time. The larger images probably represent 16 exposures on 5x7, and the smaller images, 20 on 5x7.
Images found hidden on the 1929 Folmer Multiple Camera.
Thomas Evans. Parts of this article was first published in the Graflex Historic Quarterly, Volume 16, Issue 2, in 2011, with co-author Ronn Tuttle.