Lot of early 20th century contact print / photographic developing equipment. Lot includes: wooden carrying case (lid loose / missing latches), pair of black sleeve guards, 3 Compressed Fiber Co developing trays, 10 square cardboard backing panels for pictures, one clothespin, wood frame for contact printing, wooden block with cut out circle, empty box for Cyko Developing Paper by Anthony & Scovill Co plus manual and product insert (circa 1902-1907), one unused roll of Agfa Plenachrome Film (circa 1930s), small glass mixing beaker and swizzle stick, hand held candle lantern with red glass front, and one small E. Leitz Inc electric lamp (parts of cord covering crumbling - not tested).

"A contact print is a photographic image produced from film; sometimes from a film negative, and sometimes from a film positive or paper negative. In a darkroom an exposed and developed piece of film or photographic paper is placed emulsion side down, in contact with a piece of photographic paper, light is briefly shone through the negative or paper and then the paper is developed to reveal the final print. The defining characteristic of a contact print is that the resulting print is the same size as the original, rather than having been projected through an enlarger." (source: Wikipedia)

"Throughout the period 1870-1900, American Optical-Scovill and E. & H.T. Anthony & Co. were the two largest American manufacturers of photographic Cameras and supplies.  They were competitors, often having similar camera models similarly priced.  They both thrived in the era when a small number of committed amateur hobbyists or itinerant professionals carried their large wooden cameras and tripods into the field.  But the Kodak introduced the entire population to carrying a small box that could capture their family images. Anthony and Scovill merged in 1901.  Due to the economic pressure of mainly Kodak, this was  end of the line for the beautiful and lovingly made American Optical cameras - the Anthony and Scovill catalog of June, 1901 contains only view cameras from the Anthony line.  Even when French polished, the Anthony & Scovill Co. camera finish does not approach the smoothness of the American Optical product. The Anthony & Scovill Co. should have been viable during the introduction of roll film cameras, since they had purchased the Goodwin Roll Film Patent, a vaguely worded patent of flexible photographic film on a roll.  The Eastman Kodak Co. had been producing roll film since 1889 the Kodak roll film cameras came to dominate the industry.  In 1902, The Anthony & Scovill Co. sued Eastman Kodak Co. for patent infringement, and won the case in 1913, receiving five million dollars in the following year.  But the damage had been done- Anthony & Scovill was now a minor player in a photographic industry where Kodak ruled. In 1907, the name The Anthony & Scovill Co. was shortened to ANSCO.  The era of the amateur hobbyist photographer was over.  ANSCO may not even have manufactured view cameras at all - they are absent from ANSCO catalogs.  In 1928, ANSCO merged with a German firm Agfa to become Agfa-Ansco.  It was merged with other German companies in 1929 by a Swiss holding company, IE Chemie, later named GAF.  During this time, view cameras were manufactured, but all marked Agfa-Ansco up to the Second World War.  These are the last view cameras of interest.  The company was sold to American investors as enemy assets in the 1960s." (Source: Pierce Vaubel)