Kodak Bullet

Kodak Bullet image by Rick Soloway (Image rights)

This small 127 (4 × 6 1/2 cm) camera from 1936 is a fine example of the Art Deco design motifs of the era. It is part of a family of Kodak models styled by Walter Dorwin Teague, together with the Kodak Baby Brownie and Kodak Bantam.

The design of the Bakelite Kodak Bullet is very simple. A helicoid lens barrel can retract into the body; the shutter release lever sits alongside the simple meniscus lens. To change the film, the entire back is removed. Two versions exist: one with a sliding catch on one side and a corresponding (but not functional) catch-bar on the other; the second version omits this decorative bar. There was also a version marked "New York World’s Fair" made in 1939.

The Bullet name was reused later, as the Brownie Bullet.

Kodak Bullet, closed image by jgs4309976 (Image rights)

Links

• Bullet design patent by Walter Dorwin Teague
• Wikipedia: Art Déco
• Wikipedia: Walter Dorwin Teague