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The Development and Growth of British Photographic Manufacturing and Retailing 1839-1914

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The Development and Growth of British Photographic Manufacturing and Retailing 1839-1914 The development and growth of British photographic manufacturing and retailing 1839-1914 Michael Pritchard Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Imaging and Communication Design Faculty of Art and Design De Montfort University Leicester, UK March 2010 Abstract This study presents a new perspective on British photography through an examination of the manufacturing and retailing of photographic equipment and sensitised materials between 1839 and 1914. This is contextualised around the demand for photography from studio photographers, amateurs and the snapshotter. It notes that an understanding of the photographic image cannot be achieved without this as it directly affected how, why and by whom photographs were made. Individual chapters examine how the manufacturing and retailing of photographic goods was initiated by philosophical instrument makers, opticians and chemists from 1839 to the early 1850s; the growth of specialised photographic manufacturers and retailers; and the dramatic expansion in their number in response to the demands of a mass market for photography from the late1870s. The research discusses the role of technological change within photography and the size of the market. It identifies the late 1880s to early 1900s as the key period when new methods of marketing and retailing photographic goods were introduced to target growing numbers of snapshotters. Particular attention is paid to the role of Kodak in Britain from 1885 as a manufacturer and retailer. A substantial body of newly discovered data is presented in a chronological narrative. In the absence of any substantive prior work this thesis adopts an empirical approach firmly rooted in the photographic periodicals and primary sources of the period. Wider literature from the history of retailing, manufacturing and Victorian studies supports it. The study concludes that three key periods, the early 1850s, the 1870s and the 1890s, were when substantive changes to photographic technology each released a latent demand for photography initially from the commercial portrait photographer and then, respectively, from the amateur and the snapshotter. This was met and enhanced by new manufacturing, retailing and marketing methods within photography underpinned by wider economic, social and economic changes. -2- Contents Contents 3 Figures, Tables and Illustrations 6 Figures 6 Tables 7 I1lustrations 8 Acknowledgments 14 Chapter 1. Introduction 16 Setting the scene .....................................................................................................•................................ 16 Research approach 19 Definitions and scope 23 Sources 25 Photographic publications 25 Archival sources 27 Thesis structure 29 Summary 30 Chapter 2. Literature review 31 The literature of photography 32 Histories of photography 33 Jenkins, McCauley and Edwards 37 Products, firms and individuals 39 Contemporary Iiterature 41 Contextual literature 42 Summary 46 Chapter 3. The early period 48 Science and industry before photography 48 Scientific instrument making 50 Photography's experimental phase 54 Competing processes 54 Philosophical instrument makers, opticians and chemists 59 Chemicals for photography 68 The supply of silver nitrate 72 Coalescence into a new industry 76 The early market for photography 76 The corporate structure: sole trader and partnerships 79 Camera manufacturing 82 The Ottewill group of camera manufacturers 8S Sensitised materials and collodion ; 88 The market and retailing photographic goods 94 Amateur versus professional.. : 95 Government photography 99 Early retailing and marketing 100 Advertising photographic goods 102 The early trade list 104 -3- Exhibitions 108 Medals and endorsements 110 Summary 113 Chapter 4. The decades of expansion 115 Technical developments 115 Background 115 Dry plates 115 Mechanised coating ofplates 120 Prices 123 Quality 125 New chemistry 126 The impact of dry plates on equipment 126 The hand camera 127 The box form detective camera 129 The Kodak camera 130 The Pocket Kodak and the Brownie 133 Variant hand camera designs 135 The wider impact of the hand camera 137 Celluloid film 138 Origins 139 Roll films and roll holders 141 The effect of celluloid on the snapshotter market ·..·.. 144 Mechanisation in equipment manufacturing 145 W. Watson and Sons 145 J. Lancaster and Son 147 Thornton-Pickard Manufacturing Company 149 The role of labour in manufacturing 150 Trade associations 152 Standardising manufacture 158 Photographic equipment 160 Photographic optics 163 Photographic emulsions: The Paget prize ·..· 166 Patents and photographic innovation 172 Background 172 The photographic press and patents 174 Photographic patent activity 175 Patent exploitation 177 Licensing and purchasing patent rights 178 Patent protection and legal actions 184 The patent as a marketing tool. 189 Trade Marks 190 The impact of a patent 192 The changing economic condition 194 Changes in corporate structure: the limited company ·..• 195 Chapter 5. Consolidation of an industry 202 The arrival of Kodak in Britain 202 Monopoly, merger and Ilford Ltd 207 Industrial consolidation 210 Sensitised goods 210 Photographic equipment companies 212 Foreign imports and foreign firms 213 Early foreign trade 213 Imports 215 -4- Exports 218 The •Americanisation' of manufacturing 223 The growth of sensitised goods manufacturers 1890-1914 225 Centres of photographic manufacturing 226 Manchester 229 Birmingham 230 Relative numbers of firms 231 Changes in camera making from 1900 to 1914 231 Summary 235 Models of business evolution 235 Chapter 6. Retailing to a mass-market 237 Economic and social changes 237 Changing markets 243 Photographic retailing 244 Inside the photographic shop 246 The co-operative model of retailing 248 The growth of non-specialist retailers 252 The chemist as retailer 254 The photographic wholesaler 260 Marketing 264 New markets and the snapshotter 265 The photographic periodical press 269 Other publications: books and house magazines 273 Publications: the trade catalogue 276 External advertising 286 Trade and amateur exhibitions 288 Representatives 289 Testimonials and endorsements 289 New communications 293 Branding and corporate identity 294 Pricing photographic goods 297 Kodak and its response to competition 300 Price-cutting 301 Wholesaling and retailing 308 Summary 311 Chapter 7. Conclusions 314 Introduction 314 Chapter summaries 314 Answering the introductory questions 7 318 Summary ~ 321 Postscript 325 Bibliography 327 Archival sources 327 Primary sources 329 Online sources 332 Secondary sources 333 Illustrations 343 -5- Figures, Tables and Illustrations Figures Figure 1. The key broad themes of this study, particularly identifying the central place that consumer demand occupies 17 Figure 2. Summary of the principal legislation, technical changes and manufacturing, and retailing in the key periods identified between 1839 and 1914 21 Figure 3. The price of silver 1839-1914. Source: kitco.com 75 figure 4. London photographic studios 1839-1860. Source: Post Office London Directory 77 Figure 5. Shipments of the Kodak No.1 camera to London June 1888 to January 1890. Sales would have been split between Britain and Europe. Source: Eastman Kodak Company archive, George Eastman House 131 Figure 6. Total Lancaster camera production 1881-1906 Source: Lancaster advertisements 1881-1906 148 Figure 7. British photographic patent activity 1839-1900. Source: Patent Office 176 Figure 8. British patents dealing with change-boxes 1839-1900. Source: Patents for Invention: Photography 193 Figure 9. Photographic limited liability companies 1864-1914 Source: The National Archives, BT31 company files 196 Figure 10. Eastman Company sales in Britain 1885-1890. Notes: 1. fifteen months I 2. thirteen months to December 1890. Source: Kodak company documents 204 Figure 11. Kodak Britain and USA combined net profits 1895-1916. Source: British Journal of Photography, 1917 205 ·6· Figure 12. Britannia Works Company / lIford, Ltd, net profits 1892-1914. Sources: The Photogram, British Journal of Photography, Ilford archives 209 Figure 13. Photographic Imports into the UK by Country. Source: Annual Statement of Trade a/the United Kingdom, HMSO, 1915 216 Figure 14. Exports of Photographic goods from the United Kingdom by selected countries. Source: Annual Statement of Trade of the United Kingdom, HMSO, 1915 220 Figure 15. Photographic imports/exports 1911·1914. Source: Annual Statement of Trade of the United Kingdom, HMSO, 1915 221 Figure 16. Estimated United Kingdom photographic imports/exports 1840- 1914. Source: Annual Trade Statistics and author's estimates 222 Figure 17. Distribution of photographic manufacturers in Britain in 1911 showing the number of people employed in photographic manufacturing by county. Source: 1911 Census 227 Figure 18. Photographic retailers in London 1839-1914. Source: Post Office London directories 299 Figure 19. The relative growth and market size for photographic goods 1839-1914 320 Figure 20. Summary of the key factors influencing the demand for photography between its introduction in 1839 and 1914 322 Figure 21. The impact of Kodak on the main areas of focus for this study 323 Tables Table 1. Companies known to have been active as photographic manufacturers in the period 1839-c185S. Source: Trade directories, advertisements and catalogues ~ 61 ·7· Table 2. Daguerreotype apparatus manufacturers in 1854 showing their background. Source: Post Office London directory 1854 79 Table 3. Camera and photographic
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