One of my jobs is working in a pottery painting studio, so come December we are working as hard as Santa’s elves
trying to get everyone's Christmas gifts fired in time for the big day. The month is exhausting so to avoid burnout, I took some time away from the blog and focused on activities that also allowed me to rest. My roommate, being a sweetheart, gave me a puzzle that showed a collection of vintage cameras to put together in the evenings and I had to laugh after I put together the first few pieces since it showed a vintage Girl Scout camera. So I guess I couldn’t really escape from this blog.
The puzzle is a Eurgrapthics 550 piece random cut puzzle that focuses on vintage cameras and accessories. It comes in a tin shaped like a vintage camera, making it a great item to display on a shelf. My roommate picked it up from Costco but it’s also available on Amazon.ca for about 25$ CAD. I don’t usually enjoy random cut puzzles but because of the smaller piece count, I was able to put it together over a weekend and had a lot of fun.
I wanted to see if I could figure out the make and year of the camera. After some online research, I was pretty surprised to find that Girl Scouts had a pretty large catalog of branded cameras. Most of the research for this blog came from the Vintage Girl Scout Online Museum’s webpage and it's an amazing resource for those researching Girl Scout history. According to the museum, Girl Scouts had some form of photography badge since the late 1930s and over the next few decades, the official sales catalog would advise different branded cameras made by different companies. In 1934, Kodak released “the Great Girl Scout Kodak’ starter box, 1938 saw a Girl Scout Univex Camera, and the first version of the Girl Scout Falcon Camera came out in 1940 among others. According to the museum’s webpage, no new cameras were offered in the catalogs between 1943-1946. However, in 1947, the Trusite Camera Company of New Year advised a New Girl Scout Minicam Camera.
The 1950s brought other new cameras into the catalog including the one featured on the puzzle. This mint-green camera was produced in 1956 by the Herbert George Company in Chicago. It originally sold for $3.95 and was the first Girl Scout camera to include a flash attachment rather than being sold separately. This Camera was actually a rebranded version of the Empirical Mark Flash Camera and due to the use of a place outer shell, this was quite common as the plastic could be manufactured in several colors with various faceplates. Herbert George also produced the official Boy Scouts of America camera and was the first to create a Brownie Scout Camera. Which I actually have in my own collection.
The Camera on the puzzle wasn’t the last Girl Scout Camera nor was it the first green one but it seems that this camera tends to be the one that’s remembered. If you are looking to add one to your collection they do seem to be out on eBay pretty often but can be pricey. However, in 2018 they came out with a different replica camera cookie tin for 8$ filled with Mint Treasure Chocolates and it’s pretty easy to find these tins on eBay. Finding the Girl Scout Camera on the puzzle was a nice little surprise and it has taught me I need to keep my eyes open for those tiny references.
Thanks for Reading! - Em