HOME
Historic Camera
HCCC
Club
© & image info
|
Benjamin French & Company
 Benjamin French was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire in 1819. At the age of 21, he relocated to Boston where he would remain for the rest of his life. By the 1840s, Mr. French was transforming his interest into photography into a business that manufactured, imported, and sold a huge inventory of photographic materials that represented the latest innovations in cameras, lenses, lanterns, tripods, frames, chemicals prepared by German chemist Ferdinand Beyrich, albumen paper, and dry plates.
In 1844, Mr. French opened a daguerreotype studio, but the high prices of his photographs limited his profits. He, therefore, turned his attentions to supply and demand. That same year, he founded Benjamin French & Company in partnership with L. H. Hale. The original location was at 109 Washington Street, where it remained for 20 years before moving to 319 Washington Street. It quickly earned the reputation of being one of the preeminent suppliers of photographic materials in the United States. The business soon became an international agent of specialty lenses and magic lanterns from Canada, Mexico, South America, and Australia.
Mr. French's company was well-stocked with quality merchandise at affordable prices and was the only distributor of Darlot and Voigtlander & Son products. In 1856, Benjamin French & Company first introduced Jamin and Darlot products to American consumers. Soon known simply as Darlot, these lenses – which French & Company carried in three styles - were enduringly popular choices for hand-camera users because of their efficient and compact design, which earned them the affectionate moniker "little giants". Although several attempts were made by American retailers to sell facsimiles of the Darlot lenses to cash in on their huge demand, Mr. French's company remained their only authorized agent in the United States. One of his most famous Darlot customers was the Edward Anthony Company.
The Voigtlander line was introduced in 1859. Voigtlander cameras and portrait lenses, in particular, were highly sought because of their unparalleled perfection. They were constructed with the finest optical glass and subjected to a rigorous testing process. Voigtlander's Euryscope was one of the most impressive rapid wide-angle lenses ever produced.
|
|
By 1890, the aging and increasingly enfeebled Mr. French was turning over much of his corporate responsibilities to his son, Dr. Wilfred A. French, a photographer in his own right. After suffering from ill health for a decade, Benjamin French died in 1900.
Benjamin French & Company continued to flourish well into the twentieth century, merging with William H. Robey's Horgan & Robey firm to become the Robey-French Company in 1920. This company was owned and managed by the Eastman-Kodak conglomerate. Seven years' later, Robey-French became exclusively known as an Eastman-Kodak subsidiary.
REF:
1882 Photographic Times and American Photographer, Vol. XII (New York: Scovill Manufacturing Company), p. xxvi.
1883 Commerce, Manufactures & Resources of Boston, Mass: A Historical Statistical & Descriptive Review (Boston: National Publishing Company), p. 132.
1889 Illustrated Boston, the Metropolis of New England, 2nd Ed. (New York: American Publishing and Engraving Co.), p. 136.
1890 The Photographic Journal of America, Vol. XXVII (New York: Edward L. Wilson), p. 512.
1891 Wilson's Photographic Magazine, Vol. XXVIII (New York: Edward L. Wilson), p. 59.
1900 The Photographic Times, Vol. XXXII (New York: The Photographic Times Publishing Association), p. 92.
1920 Photo-Era: The American Journal of Photography, Vol. XLIV (Boston: Wilfred A. French), p. 321.
|
|
Member Posts
|
