Kodak Jiffy Kodak V.P. (1935–1942)
The Jiffy Kodak V.P. was Kodak's little Bakelite folding camera of the late 1930s. The initials stand for "Vest Pocket." It was produced from 1935 until 1942. It was a fixed-focus, folding-strut rollfilm camera with a moulded plastic body, and the original price was $5.00. A cowhide carrying case was listed alongside it in Kodak's 1937 trade catalog at $1.35.
Its appeal was as much industrial design as photography. The camera is frequently described as an Art Deco piece, with streamlined, flowing forms inspired by speed and modernity. Kodak's own catalog copy touted its "ultra modern molded construction and the popular 'Jiffy' action." Press a button and the lens snaps out into position. By all accounts it was a smart and swift little device, and the Science Museum Group Collection describes it as a "collapsing" camera with an eyelevel metal frame finder.
Technically, it's a simple instrument. The lens is a fixed-focus doublet, sharp for subjects about eight feet and farther. A sliding plate offers two apertures, and the shutter is marked B/I. A Kodak Portrait Attachment was available for closer work. It shot 127 rollfilm, producing 2½ × 1⅝ inch images, and opened to roughly 90 × 140 × 84 mm. The Bakelite body is what sets it apart from the closely resembling Kodak Bantam, which had a metal body instead.
Surviving documentation is modest. Period sources describe the camera as "Charmingly Small," and examples turn up today with the box and instruction booklet intact.
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