Submitted by Al
While at a regular Society meeting, I was very pleased to receive a gift of a 1920s vintage Kodak Portrait Attachment No. 7A from another member, complete with its metal tin and instructions. To our members, I am known as Mr. Kodak, as I specialize in collecting only Kodak brand photographic gear. Thanks again Brian.
At first, my expression of joy turned to a look of disappointment, when I saw that two of the fins were broken off from the back flange of the attachment. Still, it was nice to be thought of by another and it was a kind gesture.
Curious, I began to read the instructions. My disappointment soon turned back to joy and excitement when I learned that the fins were not broken off, but rather removed by design to allow for installation over the stop pins on Twindar lenses, such as those used on Jiffy Kodak cameras.
Why use a Portrait Attachment you ask? From the instruction sheet…
The Kodak Portrait Attachment is a supplementary lens to be used in front of the regular lens on Kodak or camera, when making portraits or when photographing small objects at short distances in order to secure larger images in the pictures.
As you can see from the enlarged chart, you can move in as close to 2’ 6” from your subject.
We always get asked how much a particular item is worth. The obvious answer is “it depends on how badly the buyer wants to buy it and how badly the seller wants to sell it!”
For a lark, I searched eBay for current pricing. For those not in the know, if you have an established account eBay allows you to search completed auction prices. There were no completed auctions shown for this model, but other models of this vintage sold from $9.80 - $19.52 CAD with shipping running from $11.50 - $43.93.
While searching the 1920s model, I discovered a 1950s vintage Kodak Portrait Attachment No 7A (below), complete with instructions, plastic case and original carton. It was listed at $14.83 CAD + $15.70 shipping.
Other than changing the carry case from metal to plastic and some wording changes in the instructions, it does not appear that the Portrait Attachment changed much in 30 years!
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