Vest Pocket Monroe

The Monroe Camera Company was founded in 1897 and is best known for folding cameras. After barely three years of operations, Monroe merged with four other companies in 1899 to form the Rochester Optical and Camera Company.

First introduced in 1897, the Vest Pocket Monroe (or No.1) represents one of the earliest "vest-pocket" style cameras. It is a very small, collapsible bellows camera taking 2 x 2-1/2 inch images on glass plates or sheet films. Models made in 1897 had nickel struts and rotating diaphragms. In 1898, the struts were changed to brass and the rotating diaphragm design dropped. Larger versions were also made.

This particular model is the smallest and rarest of the series selling for $5 (about $102 in year 2000 currency) and measuring 2-3/4" wide x 3-1/2" high x 4-1/2" long when fully open. The camera has a red leather bellows, black leather body and tiny brass double plateholder. However it is the bedless, strut design that sets this camera apart from other self-casing, folding cameras of the time.

The bedless design with scissors style struts allowed the camera to fold to a very compact 1-1/2" with the double plateholder! But due to the shearing action of the scissors struts when opening and closing the camera, almost all versions of the strut Monroe cameras are found with worn bellows.

Bedless Monroe cameras were discontinued after the 1899 merger, but in an unusual move, the Rochester Camera and Optical Company reintroduced a single model in 1903 known as the Pocket Poco A.

Note: For additional information about the Monroe Camera Company and Monroe Cameras, look for a comprehensive article entitled "Two Styles of Monroe Cameras" by Ralph London appearing in the CAPSule, December 2004, Volume 04, Number 4.