The 1939 Falcon Miniature was made by the Utility Manufacturing Company of New York and later by Sprats in Chicago. It is a black coloured bakelite bodied (advertised as Neolite) camera styled after the popular 35mm Argus A made in Ann Arbor Michigan 1936 - 1941. At $3.95 the Falcon Miniature was considerably cheaper than the Argus A the first American camera to shoot 35mm which had a price tag of $12.50 dollars. The Falcon used 127 film and shot 3 x 4cm images so you got twice as many pictures per roll of film. To accomplish this the camera body has two red windows allowing you to roll the number on the film to one (A) window shoot a picture and then roll it to the second (B) window and shoot a second picture. It also contains a spot to carry an extra roll of film. The simple pop up viewfinder was different than the more expensive Argus but worked none the less. The instructions in the manual asked you to keep the viewfinder close to the eye as possible by resting the camera on your face and to make sure the subject was in the frame. The Graf 50 mm fixed focus lens has a fixed aperture with a simple spring rotary shutter, speed 1/25 sec. It also has a bulb, timer and instant shooting settings with the shutter lever on the side of the lens that also cocks the release. The Falcon Miniature also came in a deluxe model. Similar cameras also manufactured by other companies under the names Pickwik, Majestic, Herold "40", Beauta and The President.
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