A

Revere Model 40 Camera 

​

Type: Movie Camera

​

Manufacture :   Revere

​

Production Date :  Manufactured in 1952

​

Acquired at :    

​

Acquired Date :    

​

​

 

Revere was an American brand originally founded in Chicago by Ukrainian immigrant Samuel Briskin as the Excel Radiator Company in 1920. Although Revere sold a series of still cameras, it is perhaps best remembered for its lineup of 16mm and 8mm movie cameras.

The company was originally founded to produce automotive radiators but began branching out into other markets by the 1930s. In 1939, the company began producing consumer-grade 8mm movie cameras. Shortly afterward, the Excel Radiator Co. was rechristened as the Revere Camera Co. in honor of the Revere Copper Co. which provided financial assistance to the company during the Great Depression. By the 1950s, Revere had become a major player in the American movie camera industry and purchased its biggest supplier of lenses and shutter assemblies: the well-established Wollensak Optical Co. from New Jersey.

The Revere Camera Company never fully escaped the shadow of its Chicago rival Bell & Howell, and as a result, its role in the early home movie industry has largely been forgotten. For a brief period of time, however, this upstart firm became America’s preferred producer of budget-priced 8mm movie equipment, including the Model 88 camera and Model 85 projector.

​

Revere made a long line 8mm cameras they called the Revere 8. Every time the changed something, whether it was big (the body) or small (the base lens), they would revise the model number. This is Model 40.

​

​

Source :

Ollinger's Camera Collection

​

Made-in-Chicago Museum

​