Manufacturer

Butcher

Category

TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT FOR COMMUNICATION

Sub-Category

PHOTOGRAPHIC TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT

Place Of Manufacture

Britain

Start Date

1900

End Date

1920

Description

a) A rectangular black camera with a leather covering. On the top of the camera is a leather strap attached with two metal screws with "Midget No 1" printed on it. On the front is a metal dial with "COVER 32 16 11 8" printed on it and a circular metal badge with "BUTCHER'S FAMOUS MIDG BRITISH MADE" printed on it. The front flap is released by two metal clasps and inside is a metal spring attached to wooden piece with "363" carved on it. b-g) Also inside the camera are six metal plates with the numbers 1-6 carved on the corresponding one.

Narrative

The Midg are a line of cameras made by the British company Butcher in the 1900s and 1910s. All are made of mahogany and contain a drop-plate magazine. It is a box-shaped detective cameras. The Midg No.1 has a focusing Beck Symmetrical lens and an everset shutter. It can hold 12 plates or 24 film sheets in quarter-plate size (3¼×4¼ ), and this camera has 6 plate holders inside. A Midg No.1 was used in 1917 by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths for the famous "Cottingley fairies" hoax.

Height

a) 15.5

Width

a) 9.1 b) 8.2

Length

a) 18.3 b-g) 11.5

Units Of Measurement

Centimeters

Number Of Parts

7

Accession No.

2013.24.91 a-g

Type of Record

Museum Artifact

Less detail