"Bantam Special"

Walter Dorwin Teague|Eastman Kodak Co.

1936 · Metal, enamel · Modern and Contemporary Art

Walter Dorwin Teague was one of the first industrial designers in America. In the 1930s, he was introduced by Richard Bach, a curator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, to the Eastman Kodak Company, for which he developed the Bantam Special camera in 1936. One in a line of lightweight cameras manufactured by the company, the Bantam Special combined a number of design elements typical of the era. The horizontal lines drew upon an American focus on streamlining, while the curved edges recalled art moderne. The Bantam was smaller than most cameras of the period, because Kodak had developed a special unperforated film for the Bantam series that required less space than the standard 35 mm sprocketed film. Teague designed the protective clamshell casing, which made the Bantam Special one of the first pocket cameras.

Artist

Walter Dorwin Teague|Eastman Kodak Co.

Date

1936

Medium

Metal, enamel

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

John C. Waddell Collection, Gift of John C. Waddell, 2002