Elgin Laboratories / Utility MFG Co. / Spartus Corp., 711-15 W. Lake Street, Chicago, IL
The Elgin Miniature Camera is part of the infamous family of bakelite minicams produced out of the same Lake Street factory in the late ’30s and 1940s. These cheap-o “candid type” cameras were marketed under literally dozens of different brand names AND manufacturer names, with no rhyme or reason as to which name would appear on which model type.
Utility MFG Co. / Spartus Corp, 711-715 W. Lake Street, Chicago, IL
The Falcon Minette was, in theory, just another of the many cheap bakelite camera brands produced out of Jack Galter’s Lake Street factory during the late 1930s and early 1940s. You can get the full crazy story of this photo industry phenomenon on our main Spartus Camera history page.
As for this model,
Monarch MFG Co. / Utility MFG Co / Spartus Corp, 711-15 W. Lake St., Chicago, IL
Museum Artifact: Marsh Pressure Gauge, c. 1940s
Made By: Jas. P. Marsh Corporation, 2073 N. Southport Ave., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Lee Industries / Spartus Corp., 711-15 W. Lake St., Chicago, IL
Metropolitan Industries / Utility MFG Co / Spartus Corp, 711-15 W. Lake St., Chicago, IL
Monarch MFG Co. / Utility MFG Co. / Spartus Corp., 711-15 W. Lake St., Chicago IL
Monarch MFG Co. / Utility MFG Co. / Spartus Corp., 711-15 W. Lake St., Chicago, IL
DeLuxe Products Co. / Utilty MFG Co / Spartus Corp., 711-715 W. Lake St., Chicago, IL
Rolls Camera MFG Co. / Utility MFG / Spartus Corp., 711-715 W. Lake St., Chicago, IL
Museum Artifact: “One Hundred and One Best Songs” Songbooks, 1910s
Made By: Cable Piano Company, 57 E. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL
Research is underway on this one and a full write-up will be coming soon.
Pelouze Manufacturing Company, 232 E. Ohio St., Chicago, IL
Here it is. The one that started it all.
This was the faded green Pelouze “Family Scale” that caught my eye at a junk shop in the first week of 2015. As explained on the About Us page, for whatever reason, this finding lit the proverbial fuse of discovery / obsessive compulsiveness within me, and eventually laid the imaginary foundation for my imaginary museum.
