Pixiq

Photo-Cravate (1890)

Edmund & Leon Bloch, Paris, France. Gift of Eastman Kodak Company, ex­collection Gabriel Cromer. 1974:0084:0050.

Designed by Edmund Bloch of Paris, the Photo­Cravate had a tiny camera concealed behind an innocent­looking piece of 1890s men’s neckwear. The body of the all­brass camera was only seven millimeters thick, but it contained six 25 x 25­mm dry plates in holders attached to a tiny conveyor chain. A small knob on the camera protruded through the tie like a shirt button and was turned to bring a fresh plate behind the 25mm f/16 lens, which was positioned on the necktie to resemble a stickpin jewel.

Making an exposure meant squeezing and relaxing a rubber bulb with a tube that operated the pneumatic shutter. The savvy photographer would vary the exposure time according to the lighting conditions, holding the bulb longer to keep the shutter open. Known in English­speaking markets as the Detective Photo Scarf, the Photo­Cravate was priced at $21 in 1891, with replacement ties in various colors and patterns available separately.

Scovill & Adams Company Book Camera (1892)

Scovill & Adams, New York, New York. 1974:0084:0053.

One of the rarest of all the detective cameras is the Scovill & Adams Company Book Camera of 1892. Disguised as a bundle of three schoolbooks, titled French, Latin, and Shadows, and secured by a leather carrying strap, its cover would be blown when put to photographic use. The multiple manipulations needed to prepare the camera for imaging required the group of books to be inverted, spines­up, in a most unnatural position. The retail price was $25.