When I got this, I didn’t know what it was. It’s not a camera. The fake shutter lever swings aside and the “lens” pops open and there’s a removable cup. Did it hold candy, or something? This tin “camera” is 1 1/4″ wide and 2 3/4″ tall, including the viewfinder. Made in Japan.
Here’s some interesting input I recently received:
“I remember seeing these things at “five and dime” stores: they usually
contained a spring-loaded snake or other creepy-crawly in one of the hollow
‘lenses.’ When the ‘shutter’ was pressed, the ‘surprise’ popped at the
unsuspecting ‘subject’ ala jack-in-the-box. Great party favors for
obnoxious eight-year-olds…”
Mystery solved!
THEN… I received this, from someone who also owns one of these fake cameras. He once thought he had a unique treasure. Then he happened to notice this on eBay:
What else does one do with a not-camera? I floated it in epoxy resin:
