Houghton-Butcher, Made In England

Houghton-Butcher, Made In England

We once had quite an active camera making industry, but that only exists now in more specialised areas. Going back to around 1900, which is where today's images start, we had, for example, W Butcher and Sons and from 1926 we had Houghton-Butcher, an amalgamation with Houghton's Ltd that had started as a manufacturing co-operation around 1915. There were many more UK camera manufacturers, but today I've put together some Houghton-Butcher images from the days when I was selling quite a few classic cameras on eBay. To be honest, it made me realise that huge collections of photographic paraphenalia can be great to put together, but the time comes when someone views these things as a liability to be disposed of. That's when people called me in, to identify and sell a myriad of mysterious kit in whatever way was appropriate. I don't do that these days, it's interesting but very time consuming.

So here's a selection of Houghton-Butcher cameras.

Butcher Cameo, c1900 onwards with various lenses and shutters.



Butcher Midg, 1902-20



Butchers No 4 Watch Pocket Carbine, 1910s-1920s



Ensign E29 in blue, 1920s



Ensign Selfix 320, 1938



Ensign Selfix 420, 1940



All Distance Ensign, 1927



Folding Ensign, taking 118 roll film, various shutters and lenses, 1910s-1925



Compared to where we are today, these cameras are very basic and limited, and yet, with ingenuity and skill, great images were still shot and many are still with us today.