Topper HPIM9427
I'm not one to niggle about chump change, but I know how far $2.00 will go at the Salvation Army, so I had to negotiate with the guy who was selling this beat camera (and a bunch of other interesting stuff, including a mink stole!) in his front yard. The arm wrestling stopped when I let him know that if he sold it to me for 25 cents, he would not have to look at it anymore. The guy was a good sport about it, chuckling when I handed him a dollar and said, "After all that, I'm going to ask you to fish three quarters out of your pocket. "
The camera is identified as a "Topper" on the back. The only other marks are found inside, where you are told to use 127 film. The Topper probably dates from the 40s or early 50s, a quarter century before The Graduate ( "I want to say just one word to you. Just one word."), a time when "plastic" was synonymous with cheapness. And the Topper brings cheapness to new lows.
The Topper measures just over 3 inches wide. Push the lever on the right to take a picture. It has a lens-less viewfinder. The back one is up, the front one is no longer with the camera. None of the plastic clips that are supposed to hold the camera together are attached, either. Since this shot was taken, I put a roll of Efke in it and almost doubled its weight with black tape. Two shots taken, 14 to go.
8/5/08: the page mfophotos links to below describes the Secret Sam Attache Case, and has a UTube complete ad for the Case. The camera appears twice in the ad: once in use surreptitiously, shooting through a hole in the side of the case, and again on its own (the way I use it). "Film Not Incuded," the ad says. The ad is from 1965, not two decades but a mere two years before "Plastics" in The Graduate.
Topper HPIM9427
I'm not one to niggle about chump change, but I know how far $2.00 will go at the Salvation Army, so I had to negotiate with the guy who was selling this beat camera (and a bunch of other interesting stuff, including a mink stole!) in his front yard. The arm wrestling stopped when I let him know that if he sold it to me for 25 cents, he would not have to look at it anymore. The guy was a good sport about it, chuckling when I handed him a dollar and said, "After all that, I'm going to ask you to fish three quarters out of your pocket. "
The camera is identified as a "Topper" on the back. The only other marks are found inside, where you are told to use 127 film. The Topper probably dates from the 40s or early 50s, a quarter century before The Graduate ( "I want to say just one word to you. Just one word."), a time when "plastic" was synonymous with cheapness. And the Topper brings cheapness to new lows.
The Topper measures just over 3 inches wide. Push the lever on the right to take a picture. It has a lens-less viewfinder. The back one is up, the front one is no longer with the camera. None of the plastic clips that are supposed to hold the camera together are attached, either. Since this shot was taken, I put a roll of Efke in it and almost doubled its weight with black tape. Two shots taken, 14 to go.
8/5/08: the page mfophotos links to below describes the Secret Sam Attache Case, and has a UTube complete ad for the Case. The camera appears twice in the ad: once in use surreptitiously, shooting through a hole in the side of the case, and again on its own (the way I use it). "Film Not Incuded," the ad says. The ad is from 1965, not two decades but a mere two years before "Plastics" in The Graduate.