Have you swung by our newspaper office recently? Tucked just inside the front door is a relic worth some attention. It is a portion of an integral part of this newspaper operation for over six decades: an industrial-model newspaper camera made by Robertson Photo Mechanix, Inc.
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These cameras were mostly used by newspapers and advertising agencies beginning in the 1950s. It was unusual, at least for its size and weight (iron) even back in that day.
Collectors would place little value on what we display today. The complete camera setup was simply too big to keep intact. The bellows targeting the lens to the film board could stretch over 10 feet. You simply moved the entire apparatus along a calibrated I-beam base rail. This allowed for accurate image reductions as well as enlargements up to 200% of actual size. The back of the camera opened into a 12’x12′ walk-in dark room. The system was unaltered and in operation for 45 continuous years.
I can’t estimate how many hours the late Junior Evans spent in that darkroom working with this camera. But I can still hear the screech of the flip board as Junior centered each layout page to be shot and converted into film. And that’s not counting all the separate film negatives and line shots individually stripped onto the page negatives to assure photo quality when the newspaper was printed (those graduation editions – with all those photos manually stripped in one by one — were nightmares!).
Without question digital is better than the old antique ways, but I say “antique” with some trepidation. We used this Robertson camera nearly up until the day we relocated into our present facilities. That was just over four years ago. Frankly, I prefer my antiques to be at a much further distance from my firsthand experience. Then again, anything using film rather than digital imaging is outdated regardless of how new it really is.
The old camera is prompting conversation. I telephoned former pressman Gerald Robison, now retired at his residence at Hamilton. He wasn’t working here full time when the business switched to offset equipment which required such a camera. But he did recall that the first camera they tried to use proved to be too slow. This Robertson camera was purchased brand new from Lawrence Photographic of Springfield, Mo., and was installed in 1964. Jerry Woody was cameraman while Gerald and Junior worked the 2-unit News King printing press.
I also asked former publisher Joe Snyder for more information about the camera. His daughter, Kathy, supplied a detail you won’t find on Google or Wikipedia or other such sources. “Mom told me one of the few times she ever cried in her life was when they delivered that camera,” the younger Kathy said, “and it was too big for the space set aside for it!”
Obviously, they made it work.
Our little display isn’t museum quality, but we’ll still make it work. What may seem nothing more than an oddity to you is a monument of dedicated labor for us. You see, that saying we put below the flag on page one — “Our Best to You Each Week” – is a tradition we’re serious about. The camera is a tangible reminder about the roots of our past, the conscientious and dedicated pressmen, typesetters, composers, bookkeepers and editors who worked here before us.
We plan on surrounding the ol’ camera with historical photographs of local interest, when we can find the time. If you have an old photograph of local interest you might share, it just might end up on our wall beside this Robertson relic. Certainly we’re interested in adding more photos to the photo gallery on www.DaviessCountyHistoricalSociety.com.
Next time you stop by our office, strike a pose in thought before the old camera for just a second. You’re not going to find an old camera like this just anywhere. Its “eye” has seen more things about Gallatin and Daviess County than most of us know.
We’re about to roll out a redesigned website for our readers who prefer to read online. The flag we’re choosing is different: a strip of photographs presented in revolving slide show fashion. Obviously, these images will be digital but will spotlight many scenes the old Robertson camera once delivered fresh and new.
This newspaper is the only newspaper in the world that’s solely interested in all things Daviess County. And this old Robertson camera spent its entire life – 45 years – faithfully recording it.