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bruiser · Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 5:27 am Post subject: Government Anniversary Speeds??

In the 'not the serial number list...but' there is mentioned (around 1943) a couple of Speed Graphics as 'government Anniversary'. Did these have any kind of government ID plate attached?

The reason I ask is that I have a 1943 Army Air Force C-3 and a 1943 Army Signal Corps PH-47-E (both have military ID plates) as well as 1943 and 1944 all black Anniversaries equipped with black military Supermatic/Ektar shutter/lenses but no ID plates, military or otherwise, and no holes where they would have been attached.

Are these last two 'government Anniversary' cameras? Made to the same specs as the military models but not drafted into service?? Any ideas???

Cheers to all,
Bruce

glennfromwy · Joined: 29 Nov 2001 Posts: 903 Location: S.W. Wyoming

I've had a few war time Anniversaries of the all black kind. I don't seem to remember any of them having nomenclature plates.
I have a couple of Pacemakers that do have the plates. I often wonder if the government was in a rush to get cameras for the war effort. In addition to Graflex cameras, they purchased some small and medium format cameras that were junk at the time and never got any better.
They purchased good cameras, bad cameras and everything out there.
Maybe a big rush was some of the reason for the lack of spec plates.
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Glenn

"Wyoming - Where everybody is somebody else's weirdo"

Les · Joined: 09 May 2001 Posts: 2682 Location: Detroit, MI

After July of '42 all Speed Graphic cameras went black "for the duration". but as you noted the better lenses went to Uncle Sam and if you had the right paperwork to buy a Speed Graphic as a civilian, you would have PROBABLY gotten a Kodak Anastigmat or some other secondary lens.

I say probably because Graflex was never consistent with their rules. Tim Holden told me they sold cameras to governments all over the world, but I have yet to see any hard records of that. While a "Government" camera is a possibility, I would think it would have gone to a specific branch and more times than not they would have put their property tag on it. I have a PH-47 E with a secondary tag that says "Property of Los Alamos Lab"
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"In order to invent, you need a good imagination and a lot of junk" Thomas Edison

bruiser · Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:07 pm Post subject:

Hi Glenn and Les,
I have couple of other all black early Annys too but they have the Graphex shutter/135mm Optar combo. The other two I mentioned earlier have the military black Supermatic/127mm Ektar combo, which is what makes them unusual for maybe non-military cameras.
Like you say, maybe a shortage of brass ID plates, although it would take quite a few to make a shell casing!!
All the best from Oz,
Bruce