The “A” stood for
Autographic, a feature that allowed a photographer to enter notes on the negative with a stylus through a window on the camera back—a precursor of the “digital back” on later film cameras. Needless to say, opening the window to write on the bottom of the negative occasionally led to fogging, but the feature was popular and Kodak kept making cameras with it from 1914 to 1932.
I found this particular sample on Ebay for US$50, and couldn’t resist because its condition looked excellent. One of several Christmas presents to myself I have indulged in this year (and hardly the most expensive), because I ... ahem ... feel obligated to do my part to support the economy.
To my surprise, the shutter still works. Now all I need is to find someone with a cache of
116 film.
