A History of The Rochester, NY Camera and Lens Companies
Source: Kingslake, Rudolf, 1974, "The Rochester Camera and Lens Companies", Rochester NY, Photographic Historical Society.
This is a most complicated story spanning almost 100 years, and I find that it is often difficult to discover what actually did happen, and to sort out the numerous changes of name, and acquisitions, and combinations of companies that went on in Rochester, especially during the period from 1890 to 1905. Small companies would be formed, often by employees from another company, and as often they would fail and their assets would be absorbed by the same or by another company. Companies, too, would be frequently reorganized with larger capital and a new set of officers, with often a different name, and it is hard to decide whether they are the same or a different company. Eastman was particularly good at acquiring a company and then letting it operate for years under its old name, often marking on its products "Eastman Kodak Company, successor to ..." Even locating the address of a company is no real clue to ownership because often three or more companies would occupy the same building.
I must at this point acknowledge the great assistance I have received from Don Lyon in sorting out the various companies and personalities and changes of ownership, and particularly for giving me access to his voluminous records and files. He really should be giving this talk instead of me. I have gained most of my information from the city directories, and also some from the catalog files at the George Eastman House. Although I have found out a lot about the numerous optical and camera companies of Rochester, my records are far from complete, and shall no doubt continue to find out interesting facts for many years to come. If anyone detects an error in my story, I hope they will point it out so that I can get everything correct as far as it goes.
