From a very early age

My first camera was a Brownie 127 ( wish I still had that one) I still remember taking photos of my cat and random things in my small world at that time. The little black and white images bordered with white gave me such joy and sense of achievement as my parents ooh’d and aah’d at the miniature snaps. That may be an overstatement but that’s how I like to remember it!

That passion has stayed with me through the years and now 60’ish years on I still continue to amass images of my slightly wider world, everyday.

How fortunate I was to be able to capture those ‘Brownie moments’ and look back at how I saw the world then as a child.The story goes that an Uncle used to develop his own film and produce small snaps of the family gatherings at that time and that is how I have one of the few photos of my Grand Father Taylor who died aged 38. Family days out at Southend that continued long after he passed away. My Father was only 8 when his Father died which makes those few snap shots so precious to him, and me.

I have recently bought a Polaroid ‘snap’ which has been great fun over the Christmas holiday and impressed my Grand Children when the tiny snapshot emerged from the slot in the camera. (there was a tussle as to who kept which one).

These snaps are a nostalgic reminder of those early days and of my introduction to photography in the 50’s.

 

My Grand Father and one of my Aunts.

My Grand Father died as a result of shrapnel wounds from WW1 causing paralysis in one arm and eventually died from pneumonia around 1930’ish.

 

 

Brownie 127

Type: Solid Body Eyelevel Rollfilm
Introduced: 1952
Discontinued: 1959
Film Size: 127
Picture Size: 1 5/8 X 2 1/2″
Manufactured: UK
Lens: Meniscus F/14, 65mm
Shutter: Single Speed 1/50 Sec
Numbers Made: Millions (1,000,000 By Aug 1954)
Original Price: $4.75

 

Description:
The Brownie 127 has a moulded smooth plastic body with broad horizontal steps and an optical direct vision finder.

Variations:
1952-1955: The first Brownie 127 camera had a plain lens face-plate.
1956-1959: The original plain lens face-plate was replaced with a cross-hatched face-plate.

Fun Facts:
263,000 of these cameras were exported to the United States and Canada between May, 1953 and September, 1954. The Brownie 127 ranks right up there with the most popular Kodak cameras made.

When figuring out what model you have look for little differences. In this case how the name of the camera looks and the graphic on the face-plate can be a quick giveaway.

Here’s an article for helping determine a manufacture date using
“C A M E R O S I T Y”, among other methods.

There are also two other “Brownie 127” cameras. One is the Brownie 127, Second Model manufactured from 1959-1963. The other, as you may have guessed, is the Brownie 127, Third Model manufactured from 1965-1967.