Kodak No. 1A Pocket Kodak
The No. 1A Pocket Kodak turns up in auction listings far more often than it turns up in the historical record. It's a folding camera from Eastman Kodak, sometimes listed with a "Junior" suffix. The Science Museum Group dates that Junior variant to 1929-1931, and most sources place the broader No. 1A family somewhere in the late 1920s to early 1930s. One seller dates their example to 1926. Another gives a loose "circa 1926-1932" range. The 1928 Kodak catalog lists the camera at $20 with a Kodak Anastigmat f/6.3 lens and Kodex shutter. That's roughly $280 in today's money, and Kodak's pricing aimed squarely at the ordinary snapshot market.
The camera shoots 116 roll film, a format long out of production. Surviving examples are typically fitted with a Kodak Kodar f/7.9 lens. The body folds flat to about 1.25 inches, is covered in leather, and has a small leather handle. One seller describes a "unique foldout mechanic" that erects the lens bed. The Science Museum Group's description of the Junior variant shows the family's fittings: a self-erecting body, a rotating plate with four apertures, a Kodo No. 1 shutter with time and instantaneous settings, and a brilliant reflecting rotating finder.
Not much is firmly known about this model, and adjacent cameras muddy the record. There's the No. 1A Kodak Junior Autographic Model A, and the No. 1 Folding Pocket Kodak Model C, which is a different and earlier camera entirely. No production numbers, no original advertising beyond the catalog listing, and no period reviews have surfaced. The film format is sometimes stated loosely. The Junior variant is confirmed on 116 film, and the base model appears to use the same stock, but the documentation is not airtight.
What survives today is mostly the collector trade. A Catawiki listing described a 1926 example as "tested and working," complete with its original leather case and a roll of unshot film. A 1stDibs listing noted its example had "retained its original finish and has the appropriate amount of wear," and mentioned an interior sticker warning about Kodak 620 film. That sticker is a later addition, which suggests the camera was handled well after 116 film began to disappear. Urban Outfitters has even sold one as a decorative piece, noting it has "multiple shutter speeds as well as aperture settings." Those fragments confirm the camera existed, worked, and has survived in reasonable numbers. They don't add up to a full history.
Known specs, such as they are:
- Folding camera, leather-covered body, folds to ~1.25 inches
- 116 roll film (no longer produced)
- Kodak Kodar f/7.9 lens (on surviving examples)
- 1928 catalog price: $20 with Kodak Anastigmat f/6.3 and Kodex shutter
- Multiple shutter speeds and aperture settings
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