I Love Brownies

Yah, I love the fattening kind too; but more so, I love Brownie cameras. Those cute little box cameras that you look down into the viewfinder to frame the perfect shot and then click.

Yesterday I mentioned that I had one for a while. It belonged to my parents and then I found it and fell hard for it in Jr. High (Middle School to the rest of you). It got lost for a while and I found it DEEP under the seat of my mother's car. Unfortunately the film had sat in the camera too long. This seems to be a pattern I seem to have with cameras and watches.

[Although I had a dream one night that all the watches I ever lost were in a shoe box that I found under my bed. I was ecstatic! Until I awoke to realize that it was just a dream and the watches were still lost to me.]

Any-who. I went to the Flea Market on Sunday (and drug Harrison along) For his sacrifice he relieved 2 Hot wheels cars, 2 McDonalds kids meal versions of Lego Bionicle robots and a Tootsie roll that he made last 2 hours! When I told him not to bite - he took it to heart!

I got this:
That's right, it's a Brownie Hawkeye Flash with flash attachment in working condition! For really cheap. The vendor gave me an incredible deal - lower than he wanted to go. I was tickled pink and Harrison said, "Are you doing the Happy Dance, mommy?"

Yes I was.

Maybe it's vindication for that day many years ago when I, in a complete fog of shock and grief, put my Brownie in the Good Will pile [While in the back of my head I'm thinking, this will make a camera enthusiast happy.]

Oh the things we do under duress.

But I have an additional plan for this camera. I love the Flickr group Through the Viewfinder or TtV. Basically, you take a picture with your camera focused on the image in the vintage camera's viewfinder; with a brownie it's hard to do because the viewfinder is tiny, but it can be done.
I need to make a contraption to block out all the light and try it. Here is a try looking through a paper towel tube. with all the balancing and such, I couldn't keep a steady hand for a clear shot. But you get the idea.

It's fun. Plus, I won't have to use my PAS any longer, I can try it with the DSLR. Ooo! More fun!

Then when I'm lucky and hit pay-dirt at a little junk shop, garage sale or Flea market; maybe I can pick up a Duaflex camera with a large pop-up view finder - it is another cool camera! My grandparents had one that I used when I visited them. But alas, it got lost in the aftermath their deaths.

I'll post more when I have time to play.

I also bought 3 vintage record boxes to keep my 45s in! I need to clean them up and maybe add something to them; but I am so excited because I just can't give up my 45s [yes, I have a vintage turn table that they can play on.] I have a collection from the early/mid eighties and a collection of my mom's consisting of country/western hits from the late 40's early 50s. Plus a few 60s sprinkled in for fun [my older brother's 45s]

Love the Flea Market!