1920s Amateur Photographer [Archive]

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kelack

27-01-2009, 22:34

A chap at the rugby club has very kindly lent me 8 issues in binder of Amateur Photographer that he had as a boy. They date from between 1920 and 1925. I've been having a gentle flick through and thought I would take a couple of photos. I just wanted to capture a photography magazine from 80 odd years ago. Sorry the corner is cut off in most but we had to put our fingers on to hold the binder open. Look at the prices!!!! And this magazine cost threepence for just over 60 pages :D

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/2590/IMG_8597.JPG

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/2590/IMG_8600.JPG

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/2590/IMG_8601.JPG

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/2590/IMG_8596.JPG

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/2590/IMG_8594.JPG

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/2590/IMG_8595.JPG

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/2590/IMG_8571.JPG

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/2590/IMG_8589.JPG

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/2590/IMG_8592.JPG

ranarama

27-01-2009, 22:54

So nothing's changed then, it's still full of adverts. Thanks for posting, interesting to see.

Wail

28-01-2009, 04:23

Fantastic :clap:, and what a wonderfully preserved bunch.

What I'd love to do is get my brains working and see how much the items advertised would have cost in today's £, after adjusting for inflation and time value.

Thank you for posting these :)

artona

28-01-2009, 05:57

oldfella

28-01-2009, 06:08

prices did not increase much until well after the war.

68lbs

28-01-2009, 06:27

Fascinating stuff, would love to be able to get a look at these. Interesting that a lot of the cameras are aimed at the 'holiday' market. So would that be like having a modern mag full of adverts for compacts?

I agree re the Kosmos competition too... £500!!!! That musta been one heck of a competition!

Dark Star

28-01-2009, 06:32

Thanks for posting these Kelly, absolutely fascinating stuff!

Bazza155

28-01-2009, 06:45

Nice

Kosmos £500 prize comp. Surely back then you could buy a house for that.........so by todays value on houses thats a quarter of a million comp - WOW

Wallace Heatons - ar ethey still there. I remember as a boy working on a saturday for Dixons who bought Wallace Heatons. One chap was moved from the London Wallace Heatons out to Dixons and he hated it, very much below what he was made for ..........lol

My parents went to buy a new house in Chesham, Buckinghamshire in about 1957 for £250, so God knows what £500 in the 1920's was worth.

A pastime only for the very wealthy.

oldfella

28-01-2009, 06:50

My parents went to buy a new house in Chesham, Buckinghamshire in about 1957 for £250, so God knows what £500 in the 1920's was worth.

A pastime only for the very wealthy.
1957, a new house £250. What was it, an igloo? Prewar a modern semi was about £500. :cuckoo:

Wail

28-01-2009, 07:54

Nice

Kosmos £500 prize comp. Surely back then you could buy a house for that.........so by todays value on houses thats a quarter of a million comp - WOW

Wallace Heatons - ar ethey still there. I remember as a boy working on a saturday for Dixons who bought Wallace Heatons. One chap was moved from the London Wallace Heatons out to Dixons and he hated it, very much below what he was made for ..........lol

I remember Wallace Heaton down Bond St. in London. They were such a posh camera store that knew their stuff.

Soon afterward, Dixons opened across the road from them. Now, of course, both are gone from there.

Wail

28-01-2009, 07:59

Kelly,

Out of curiosity, would these be up for sale?

Betty

28-01-2009, 08:06

Out of curiosity, would these be up for sale?

They dont belong to her, she borrowed them :)

Thanks for posting these, fantastic stuff! :D

horizon

28-01-2009, 08:11

fantastic, they are in great condition for magazines over 80years old...

Wail

28-01-2009, 08:18

Betty, thanks, I know they're not hers :).

I was hoping she'd ask the owner, who may be willing to part with them.

68lbs

28-01-2009, 08:33

I was hoping she'd ask the owner, who may be willing to part with them.

There's One Here From 1934 (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/THE-AMATEUR-PHOTOGRAPHER-NOVEMBER-28th-1934_W0QQitemZ290286559857QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAntiq uarian_Books_UK?hash=item290286559857&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1687|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A13 18)

Wail

28-01-2009, 08:52

Wonderful :thumbs:

wack61

28-01-2009, 09:00

I have some AP magazines from the 1980s, amazingly they have nudes on the front cover with nipples showing, my how things have changed

kelack

28-01-2009, 11:43

So nothing's changed then, it's still full of adverts. Thanks for posting, interesting to see.

I picked out mainly adverts to show the prices, I'll give you the advert:article proportion tonight :D

Fantastic :clap:, and what a wonderfully preserved bunch.

What I'd love to do is get my brains working and see how much the items advertised would have cost in today's £, after adjusting for inflation and time value.

Thank you for posting these :)

I would too, I've been trying to google it to find out how to work it all out

Kelly,

Out of curiosity, would these be up for sale?

Nope, not a chance, sorry :D He was going to give them to me but I couldn't take them so I said I would just borrow them but it's not something I would sell anyway. As has been posted, you can pick them up on ebay

kelack

28-01-2009, 11:44

Cheers for all the comments, I'm glad I could share. It's absolutely amazing having a look through them, but the pages are so thin, I'm scared of tearing them

Andysnap

28-01-2009, 14:53

Wail

28-01-2009, 16:34

:)

Thanks, but I wanted the one with the Wallace Heaton ad., as that brings back a lot of fond memories.

I've checked the ones on ebay, and while there is one oldish one, which was kindly pointed out by 68lbs, but I couldn't find out if it had the ad.

Anyways, no worries .. it is not something critical; only that it brought back a rush of fond memories from my younger days.

Again, thank you for posting & sharing these :)

InaGlo

28-01-2009, 16:37

Amazing stuff, you must be really enjoying leafing through these.

Thanks for sharing. :thumbs:

andrewm

28-01-2009, 16:53

If you want to know how much things were worth in ye olden times try this website, its fantastic.

http://www.measuringworth.com/ppoweruk/?redirurl=calculators/ppoweruk/

Using the retail price index your £500 in 1925 is worth a whopping £20,440 now. Not a bad prize really.
And a £3 15s camera would cost £153. So mid range point and click then.

Andy

And actula figures here:

http://safalra.com/other/historical-uk-inflation-price-conversion/

which rather interestinly shows that 1920 was a peak followed by 13 years of deflation. That £3 15s camera in 1920 would have been £2 7s by 1933.

Andrew

28-01-2009, 16:54

Great stuff Kel, must be really good reading, thansk for sharing them :thumbs:

Flash In The Pan

28-01-2009, 16:57

Thanks for sharing these, always fascinating to get a glimpse of a bygone age :)

HoppyUK

31-01-2009, 12:10

Thanks, but I wanted the one with the Wallace Heaton ad., as that brings back a lot of fond memories.

Contact the publishers of Amateur Photographer. They should be able to supply a photocopy from their archives for any edition you choose.

Wonderful thread :) Strange to think that the young girl pictured in the opening post is quite likely dead now...

I love that 'measuring worth' calculator. It shows why I had to work a whole year after school to pay for my first decent camera, a Minolta SRT101 with 50mm f/1.7 lens. Cost £175 in 1970, which is £2,000 now, or £4k if you factor in increased earnings :eek:

Camera gear was always mega expensive until the 1980s when new technology slashed prices and upped performance dramatically. That's when photography really became affordable and popular. My late father would not believe the amazing cameras we have today. I find it pretty incredible myself!

Richard.