Antique & Vintage Photographic Equipment

No 1 Pocket Kodak

Eastman Kodak Company

Name: No 1 Pocket Kodak
Type: Folding (Rollfilm)
Manufacturer: Eastman Kodak Company
Country of Origin: US
Construction: Conventional folding camera where the lens standard is pulled out on a track fixed to the baseboard. Autographic back with stylus held in clip on left side of lens standard. Brilliant finder at top right of lens standard. Fine vernier screw control for focus.
Plate / Film Size: 120 rollfilm (autographic) for pictures 2¼" x 3¼"
Dimensions (w x h x l):  
Production Period: 1926 - 1932 (black); 1929 - 1932 (colours). See Notes

The No 1 Pocket Kodak was made in a set of colours, in common with many other models in the late 1920s and early 1930s. This particular camera was available in blue, brown, grey & green but only in the US. The camera itself certainly looks attractive in its coloured leatherette finish, but the geometric design of the outer box is also a key feature (and sadly one that has often been discarded).

Note the need to be precise about the name of the camera: avoid confusion with the No 1 Folding Pocket Kodak or the No 1 Pocket Kodak Junior. There was also a Series II version of the camera, which is self-erecting like the Junior model!

Model / Variant: Brown
Lens: Kodar f7.9
Shutter: Kodex No 0
Movements: None
Date of this Example: c1930
Serial Number: Serial 374429? (The number, located on the rear of the support stand, is a little indistinct).
Availability:
  • Common [ ]
  • Uncommon [x]
  • Hard to Find [ ]
  • Scarce [ ]
Inventory Number: 65

<Photographs to be added>

Description

Brown version of the No 1 Pocket Kodak folding camera with matching case and instructions. Complete with autographic stylus and short cable release (outer sheath broken).

The case is finished in the same colour as the camera body.

The instruction booklet has a gold outer covering, a style that was adopted for a number of the coloured camera variants (e.g. Vanity Kodak and Kodak Petite). There is a code on final page that reads "6-29-CH-50", so presumably it was printed in 1929, but was probably not revised over such a short production run.

~ # ~ # ~

Model / Variant: Grey
Date of this Example: c1931
Serial Number: Serial 309195 on reverse of support stand
Availability:
  • Common [ ]
  • Uncommon [x]
  • Hard to Find [ ]
  • Scarce [ ]
Inventory Number: 190

<Photographs to be added>

Description

Grey version of the No 1 Pocket Kodak folding camera with matching box, case and instructions. Complete with autographic stylus. The camera retains its original grey bellows.

The original sales carton is finished in an attractive grey/black diamond pattern. There are scuff marks around the top edges and one strip of damage, possibly from tape, but otherwise is in good condition. The box has a gold inner surface.

The leather case in matching grey finish is in very good condition, although the strap shows some wear from being folded in the box. The full length shoulder strap is still fully coiled in the box.

The original instructions included, with a bluish outer covering (not gold as with the blue example above, #65). The code on the final page is "6-30-CH-40", so may be printed in 1930? There is some very minor damage to the outer covering of the booklet.

Notes

The four coloured variants of the No 1 Pocket Kodak were produced in the US by Eastman Kodak but were not available in Europe; Kodak Ltd only produced the black version (and then only in the period 1929 - 1932 according to Coe [4]).

Several different lenses were supplied for the No 1 Pocket Kodak: an achromatic, an f/6.3 Kodak Anastigmat (1927 - 1932) and an f7.7 Kodak Anastigmat (1927). However, I believe that the coloured versions were all equipped with the Kodar.