Title: Great Moments of the War Exhibit by Folmer Graflex Corporation (Rochester N.Y) Collection
Dates: 1939-1945
Collection Number: 00450
Quantity: 106 items
Abstract: Collection of World War II photographs from the "Great Moments of The War by Graflex" exhibit. Images were taken on Graflex cameras during World War II.
Provenance: The State Historical Society of North Dakota acquired these images from Folmer Graflex Corporation as an exhibit noting the use of the Graflex Camera during World War II. Photographs were mounted on double weight mat board and shipped in wooden shipping container (still in old Photo Archives) with original shipping label. Images were exhibited with Graflex Camera outfits to show the equipment used. Later the photographs were scanned and used in exhibit about North Dakota and World War II.
Scope and Content: All photographs in this exhibit are from negatives made with Speed Graphic, Graflex or Graflex-built Aircraft Cameras. Assembly of this outstanding group of war and action photographs was made possible only through the fullest cooperation of the various photographic services of the U. S. Army Air Forces, U. Army Signal Corps, U. Navy, U. S. Marine Corps, U. S. Coast Guard, and O.W.I. [Office of War Information]. Since the armed services cannot and do not endorse a product, use of these photographs supplied by the armed forces does not imply endorsement by the respective services of the Graflex-made equipment with which the photographs were taken. Those who pursue photography will be interested to know that all prints in the exhibit were made from copy negatives, original negatives not being available from official files of rather than official reproduction purposes. In spite of the difficult field conditions under which most of the negatives were exposed and processed, the results are great evidence of the vital contribution photography is making in picturing the way to Victory. The Folmer Graflex Corporation, Rochester, N. Y.
Property Rights: The State Historical Society of North Dakota owns the property rights to this collection.
Copyrights: Copyrights to materials in this collection remain with the donor, publisher, author, or author's heirs. Researchers should consult the 1976 Copyright Act, Public Law 94-553, Title 17, U.S. Code and an archivist at this repository if clarification of copyright requirements is needed.
Access: This collection is open under the rules and regulations of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
Citation: Researchers are requested to cite the collection title, collection number, and the State Historical Society of North Dakota in all footnote and bibliographic references.
Related book: 771 F668g 1933 Graflex, the camera for more interesting pictures.
Corporate History:
The company was founded as the Folmer and Schwing Manufacturing Company in New York City in 1887 by William F. Folmer and William E. Schwing as a metal working factory, manufacturing gas light fixtures, chandeliers, bicycles and eventually, cameras. In 1909, it was acquired by George Eastman, and the company was moved to 12 Caledonia Avenue (later renamed Clarissa Street), Rochester, NY in 1928, as the Folmer & Schwing Division of the Eastman Kodak Company. In 1926, Kodak was forced to divest itself of the division, which was spun off forming a new company, the Folmer Graflex Corporation, which changed its name to Graflex Inc. in 1946. In 1956, it became a Division of the General Instrument Precision Company, and moved its offices to Pittsford, NY. In 1966, the company was sold to the Singer Corporation. Graflex was known for the quintessential press camera, the Speed Graphic which was manufactured for over 60 years and was used by most of the photojournalists in the first half of the 20th century.
William F. Folmer, an inventor, co-owned the Folmer and Schwing Manufacturing Company, founded in New York City as a gas lamp company. As the gas lamp market declined, the company expanded into other areas including bicycles and photographic equipment, leading to the release of the first Graflex camera in 1899. As the company's success grew, it chose to focus on photography and dropped its other manufacturing lines, and in 1905 it was acquired by George Eastman, in 1907 becoming the Folmer Graflex Division of Eastman Kodak. After a succession of name changes, it finally became simply "Graflex, Inc." in 1945. Eastman Kodak made all of the Graflex cameras in their professional equipment manufacturing plant on Clarrisa Street in Rochester (N.Y.) In 1926, as a result of violations of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (Comp. St. § 8820 et seq.) Kodak was forced to divest itself of its professional equipment division, which became Graflex Inc. This company existed under independent ownership until 1958, when the company was bought by the General Precision Equipment, which operated it as an independent division until 1968, when it was sold to the Singer Corporation, who also operated it as a division until 1973, when it was finally wrapped up and its tooling sold to the Toyo Corporation. From 1912 to 1973 Graflex produced large format and medium format press cameras in film formats from 2¼ × 3¼″ (6 × 9 cm) to 4 × 5″. They also produced rangefinder, SLR and TLR cameras in a variety of formats ranging from 35mm to 5 × 7″. The Rochester Folmer plant also manufactured the Century Studio Camera, which was marketed under both the Kodak and Graflex nameplates. However, because Graflex printed separate catalogs for its studio and portable offerings, many erroneously believe the Century Studios to have been manufactured elsewhere.
Sources:
Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com.
INVENTORY
00450-00001 See your War Bond Dollars in Action Visit "Graflex Sees the War" An Exhibit of Great War Pictures [Graflex Exhibit poster] 1942-1945
00450-00002 "Graflex Sees the War" Great Photographs of World War II Exhibit Poster 1942-1945
00450-00003 "Graflex Sees the War" Great Photographs of World War II Exhibit Poster 1942-1945
00450-00004 Ground Camera, Air Force Model, Combat Type --Graflex-Made 1942-1945
00450-00005 Hand Operated Aircraft Camera -- Graflex-Built 1942-1945
00450-00006 Automatic Electric Motor-Driven Aircraft Camera -- Graflex-Made 1942-1945
00450-00007 "Ack-ack" enroute 1942-1945
00450-00008 K-Gun Speaks 1942-1945
00450-00009 Mission of Mercy -- Attu Aleutian Islands (Alaska) 1942-1945
00450-00009 First Wave on Beach at Rendova Island Solomon Islands June 30, 1943
00450-00010 Depth Bomb Explosion 1943
00450-00011 Tin Fish Sandwich 1943
00450-00012 Destroyer's Brood 1943
00450-00013 Landing Under Fire in Italy 1943
00450-00014 "Helena" Survivors Solomon Islands 1943
00450-00015 "Hellcat" Gets the "Go" 1943
00450-00016 Merchant Marine Cadets Aloft 1943
00450-00017 On Watch 1943
00450-00018 Aleutian Skyway Alaska 1943
00450-00019 Navy Dive Bomber Over Wake Island Micronesia 1943
00450-00020 "What Goes Up . . ." 1943
00450-00021 Solid Water Over the Bow -- North Atlantic 1943
00450-00022 Homage to Heroic Dead, Kiska Aleutian Islands (Alaska) 1943
00450-00023 Fallen Queen -- USS Lafayette New York 1944
00450-00024 Fallen Queen Arises-- Lafayette Refloated New York 1944
00450-00025 "Home to Mama" 1943-1945
00450-00026 "You Tell 'em Bud!" 1943-1945
00450-00027 "You Tell 'em Bud!" 1943-1945
00450-00028 Front Line, Chicago Ridge, Attu Aleutian Islands (Alaska) 1943-1945
00450-00029 Daughters of Uncle Sam 1943-1945
00450-00030 Plane Fodder 1943-1945
00450-00031 Depth Bomb Dervish 1943-1945
00450-00032 "Kingfisher's' Return 1943-1945
00450-00033 Death by Night 1943-1945
00450-00034 ". . . and Pass the Ammunition" 1943-1945
00450-00035 Nine Paramarines Peel Off in Five Seconds 1943-1945
00450-00036 Paramarines Jumping from Marine Transport -- Lost Helmet (in circle) Falling Behind 1943-1945
00450-00037 ". . . Our Flag Was Still There" 1943-1945
00450-00038 Lull Before the Storm 1943-1945
00450-00039 Traffic Cops -- 1943 Style
00450-00040 Bombs Pock Sicilian Waters Sicily, Italy 1943
00450-00041 A Bone in Her Teeth 1943
00450-00042 Bow-on Invasion Technique 1943
00450-00043 Father Neptune's Foundlings 1943
00450-00044 Cargo Ship Explosion -- Sicily, Italy 1943
00450-00045 Invaders Make Friends Italy 1943
00450-00046 Sailors in a Sea of Sand 1943
00450-00047 Fireworks for U-Boat from a K-Gun 1943
00450-00048 Dawn Alert 1943
00450-00049 American Cargo Ship Hit -- Sicily, Italy 1943
00450-00050 Protecting the Old 1943
00450-00051 U. S. Coast Guard Cutter Spencer "Scratches One Pig-Boat" 1943
00450-00052 War Clouds Off Sicily, Italy 1943
00450-00053 "The Gift of Life . . ." 1943
00450-00054 Underneath Dropping Bombs -- Italy 1943
00450-00055 Explosion Aftermath -- Sicily, Italy 1943
00450-00056 Forced Landing on Invasion Beach, Italy 1943
00450-00057 Sunset Convoy to the "Rising Sun" 1943
00450-00058 Tarawa Beach Scene Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00059 The Gods That Failed Tarawa, Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00060 They Fought and Died on Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00061 Jap Prisoners – Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00062 They Mean Business Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00063 It Was the Jap Gibraltar Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00064 Jap Dead -- Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00065 Cover Where They Find It Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00066 Tarawa Airport Under Siege Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00067 Picking Them Off Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00068 One Jap Who Didn't Make It Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00069 "It Was a Hard Fight, But I Made It" Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00070 Home Is Where You Find It Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00071 Jap Command Post -- Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00072 Marines Charge Forward -- Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00073 Hail and Farewell Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands December 4, 1943
00450-00074 Jap Guns -- Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00075 Tarawa Lensmen Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00076 Taking a Jap Pillbox, Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00077 Dead Jap -- or Booby Trap? Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00078 Marines Wade Ashore Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00079 South Pacific Wounded Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00080 "The Blood You Gave . . ." Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00081 Barbed Wire Doesn't Stop Them Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands November 1943
00450-00082 Mars' Eggs 1943
00450-00083 Aerial Piggy-Back 1943
00450-00084 On Silent Wings 1943
00450-00085 Top of the Roll 1943
00450-00086 Liberator -- Night Mission 1943
00450-00087 "Neither Rain nor Gloom of Night . . . " 1943
00450-00088 Tracers Through the Night 1943
00450-00089 Night Gunnery 1943
00450-00090 Mission at Dark 1943
00450-00091 Nine Boys with Bombs 1943
00450-00092 Cargo for Tonight 1943
00450-00093 Cold Weather Chamber 1943
00450-00094 Merchant of Death! 1943
00450-00095 P-40's 1943
00450-00096 Significant Formation 1943
00450-00097 Shelling of Munda Field 1943
00450-00098 Anti-Aircraft Gunfire, North Africa1943
00450-00099 Barrage Balloons Guard Sicily Bound Invasion Craft Sicily, Italy 1943
00450-00100 105mm Howitzer Firing, North Africa 1943
00450-00101 American Wounded, Somewhere in Australia 1943
00450-00102 Lifeline of Victory, Chicago (Ill.) December 1942
00450-00103 Tanks in Transit, Kansas City, (Kans.) March 1943
00450-00104 High Octane, Borger (Tex.) November 1942
00450-00105 Big Inch, Longview (Tex.) October 1942
00450-00106 Bomber Noses, Long Beach (Calif.) October 1942
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