The first step is to admit you have a problem…

Alright, fine.  I admit it.  I have a problem.  We went to the monthly antique show (aka flea market, aka junk market) this morning and I bought a camera.  And then I bought another one.  And another one.  And one more.  Four total, but dang-it, I can use them all!

I’ll get photos and put them up later.   But I got:

#1 – Kodak Brownie Twin 20 in the box with a Supermite flash attachment, bulbs, instructions, etc.  It looks like it’s never been used.  The guy had it priced at $15, but before I could even say anything, he told me he’d take $10.  You betcha.  Sold.

#2 – Herbert George Co. Imperial Debonair Cub Scouts of America version.  In a booth with several other cameras that were desirable (to me), but overpriced.  They had the Imperial priced at $15, with the flash attachment.  Offered $10 and settled at $12, then the woman tells me she’s got the box if I want it.  Well, yeah.  It’s in bad shape she says.  What else would I think she’d want to do with the box?  So I do her a favor and take it too.  I’m that kind of guy.

#3 – The guy that has four lines of tables with each table piled with “stuff” priced by the table has a Sears 35mm SLR (Auto 35 TL) sitting on the $1 table.  $1 I ask?  $1 he confirms.  Quick, painless, and now mine.  Actually the nicest camera I bought today and I’m the least interested in it.  I had visions of making a 35mm pinhole out of it, but then I figured out the lens is fixed.  I guess that really puts the “single” in SLR.  It’s only $1.  I’m sure I’ll get over it.

#4 – I find another booth with multiple cameras.  They had a Sparta TLR that I thought I’d like, but the excessive clanking from inside kind of turned me off and the horridly bent viewfinder hood wasn’t doing it for me either.  But they did have a plastic craptastic with box .  This was the day of cameras in boxes – maybe that’s why I’m disappointed in the Sears 35mm – no box.  Anyway, this one is a Birdseye Flash Camera, from the Birdseye Camera Corp. of Chicago, IL.  It’s a 620, and comes with the flash attachment, complete with vintage Ray-O-Vac batteries.  Very vintage, very leaky.  Funny thing about this camera is the rear and the shutter mechanism are almost exactly like the Imperial (nee Herbert George Co.) Savoy I have.  Comparing the instructions from the Birdseye to the Imperial Debonair manual, I find the miscellaneous stuff like “how to get good photos” and the guarantee are the same.  Exactly the same.  I’m not sure how the history of that happened, but it obviously did.  I did a little web research and can’t find an answer, but I found someone else who noticed.

So I admit it:  I have a problem.  I’ve accumulated a bunch of cameras over the last two years, but I don’t have a comprehensive system to keep track of them all.  Twenty years from now I’d like to be able to access information about a specific camera from the database I keep planning to develop, but never make the time for.  So that’s it.  I’ve admitted my problem:  I don’t have a system for keeping track of my cameras.  There.  What’s step two?

Pictures at a later time.  You can always keep an eye on my Flickr stream just in case they show up there first.