Sears Roebuck & Co., in the early
years of the Twentieth Century, may have been Kodak's stiffest domestic
competitor in the marketing of photographic technology and services.
The mail order company's giant catalog had a large section devoted to
cameras and darkroom equipment. The items sold were from domestic and
imported sources, and were similar to Kodak's offerings in regard to
features, quality and pricing. Sears imported some high quality cameras
from Germany including models from ICA A.G. which became a part of the
Zeiss Ikon conglomerate in 1926. At the lower end of the consumer
scale, Sears relied initially on cameras from the Conley Camera Co. of
Rochester, Minn, which were sometimes marketed under the "Seroco" label.
Sears and Kodak competed for the affections of amateur photographers
with magazines published monthly and sold for five cents a copy. Both
publications, appearing first in 1913, were twenty-five or thirty pages
in length and very similar in regard to design, layout and subject
matter. The Kodak offering,
KODAKERY, was published at the company headquarters in Rochester, NY and had somewhat of an edge over Sears'
Better Photos
in terms of design style, as well as in the quality of the typography
and photo reproductions. Articles in both magazines focused on photo
technique and photo subjects of concern to the amateur audience
including hints on making portraits of family members, children and
pets, along with sports, landscape and snow scenes. Sears offered film
and plate processing from its Chicago headquarters, as well as the
making of prints and enlargements; an 8x10 could be had for fifteen
cents, and for another six cents, you could have it mounted.
Until "miniature" 35mm cameras started to get popular in the mid 1920's,
most consumers were content to get their snapshots made into contact
prints. While Sears and other companies offered enlarging services, few
amateurs in the first decades of the Century would have had the
capability of making their own enlargements. For the advanced amateurs
with adequate finances or mechanical skills, however, there were options
available.
An article in the Vol.1, No.2 issue of
Better Photos
illustrated a method for using a folding camera as an enlarger for
making prints from glass plate negatives. Mounting the contraption on a
window with a light-gathering mirror was probably a very practical idea
at a time when electric lighting still had limited availability.
The editorial staff of
Better Photos also conducted a
twelve-lesson Correspondence School of Photography which was often
advertised on the inside front cover of the magazine. The ad ended with
the assurance that
"The student will not be hurried nor urged to complete the course in
less time than is necessary to secure a thorough knowledge of the
principles of photography, and lessons may be returned for criticism and
correction as many times as the student desires, or until proficiency
is attained."
The price for all of that was $3.00. Even after applying the 20x factor
for inflation since 1913, it seems a pretty good deal.
The range of prices for cameras adjusted for inflation seems very
similar to what is offered to consumers today. In 1913, box cameras
sold for the equivalent of about $40 in today's inflated dollars.
Domestic folders with faster lenses and multi-speed shutters went for
about $200, while top-of-the-line imports sold for around $1000 in
current dollar value.
