The Kodak Brownie Starflash: My First Camera

The Kodak Brownie Starflash From Brownie-Camera.Com:

Here is a trip down memory lane for other old timers.  At times I find it helpful going back to my roots to research ideas from older projects.  While looking thru old film negatives, I got the idea for this story, so today, it is back to the very beginning, to my first camera.

A fitting camera for an eager-to-learn twelve year old was, of course, made by Eastman Kodak.  Kodak made most of the cameras the world used at the time.  Things were very different back in the days of film before digital was invented.

Camera Type: Solid Body Eye level Rollfilm
Introduced: March 1957
Discontinued: June 1965
Film Size: 127
Picture Size: 1 5/8 X 1 5/8″
Manufactured: US, France
Lens: Dakon
Shutter: Rotary
Numbers Made: Nobody knows the actual numbers, but they sold a whole lot of them over the cameras eight year life.
Original Price: $8.50 (Not Inexpensive at the time, in today’s dollars that would be close to $50)(All models branded “Coca-Cola” were promotional giveaways.)

Description:
The popular Brownie Starflash has a moulded plastic body, optical direct vision finder, and handy built-in flash gun for single use flashbulbs.

Variations:
March 1957-June 1965: Black Model
March 1958-Oct 1960: Red Model
March 1958-Aug 1962: White Model
March 1958-Feb 1962: Blue Model
Oct 1959-Dec 1961: Coca-Cola Motif For Promotional Use

This camera was also supplied in an outfit for close-up photography as the Kodak Startech Camera.

Fun Facts:
The Brownie Starflash Camera was a truly all-in-one imaging device in it’s day. The built-in flashgun and small size made this camera extremely portable and easy-to-use.  I haven’t changed a bit.  I still greatly prefer small size, easy to carry and use cameras ;=)

This beautiful camera was designed by Arthur H. Crapsey, the designer of many popular Kodak cameras.  Arthur Hunt Crapsey, Jr (1919-1998) was an influential camera designer working for Eastman Kodak, who had a hand in a great many designs. After graduating in Ceramic Design, he served as a pilot in the US Army Air Corps during World War II. Invalided out after losing his right leg, he became one of Kodak’s first industrial designers in 1945. Between 1948 and 1958 Crapsey was credited with patents for a large number of cameras & camera related gear.

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