Purma Camera Co
Camera manufacturers, office at Brock House, Langham St, London W1.
1935 Tom Purvis, a renowned artist, and Alfred C. Mayo founded Purma Cameras Ltd. David Brock of Brock Fireworks gave financial help to launch the company in London.
The cameras of the Purma brand were 127 roll film viewfinder cameras with innovative gravity controlled shutters, based on the company's patents of 1935 and 1936, designed by Mayo. Purma cameras and accessories were sold by R. F. Hunter of London. The most common, the Purma Special was made almost entirely of Bakelite, apart from the glass lens, plastic viewfinder optics and shutter and spring mechanisms. Styling was apparently done by Raymond Loewy’s London office. features included curved focal plane, metal shutter with three speeds. and a lens that telescoped out of the body when the lens cap was removed. The Purma was said to be the first camera to have plastic optics, although only in the viewfinder.
1936 Advert for the Purma Speed Camera on this page. [1]
1947 British Industries Fair Advert for the Purma Camera Co Miniature Camera. (Scientific and Optical Section) [2]
1952 Advert for the Purma Plus Camera on this page. [3]
See Also
Sources of Information
- Camerapedia [3]