photax
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Post by photax on May 31, 2011 16:58:40 GMT -5
Hi ! These two fully working Konica Auto S clones from the mid 1960`s are my latest flea market findings ( 20.- each ): Wards am 450 with Hexar 1:2.8/40mm and a Wards am 550 with Hexar 1:1.9/47mm. They have a coupled rangefinder, a dual range CdS meter and a pull-out lens hood. I have noted that Montgomery Wards was a department store chain from Chicago who sold several cameras under their own brand. Do they still exist ? MIK  |
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galenk
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Post by galenk on May 31, 2011 18:07:34 GMT -5
Yes they do, although not as big as the were 30 years ago. Back in the 60's and 70's there was a montgomery wards store in just about every small town, Through out the late 70's and 80's alot of the smaller outlets became unprofitable because of large chian stores like Walmart and Target, so many were closed down. Now only the large stores in larger citys remain.
Galen
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daveh
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Post by daveh on May 31, 2011 18:35:15 GMT -5
I've never heard of wards before. I have now.
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Post by aceroadholder on May 31, 2011 20:01:44 GMT -5
Montgomery Ward went bankrupt in 2001. There is an on-line store that has the name but is not associated with the old company.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2011 21:14:38 GMT -5
When I was a kid my parents did a lot of their Christmas shopping using the "Monkey Ward" catalog. That was how most folks referred to the company. In this area during the 1950s just about any town with 5,000 people had a Wards store and/or and Sears Roebuck store.
So how did a Wards branded camera get to Austria? Maybe an American serviceman?
Wayne
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photax
Lifetime Member
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Post by photax on Jun 1, 2011 6:59:52 GMT -5
Have many thanks for this informations ! Sometimes it would be interesting to know the history behind some flea market cameras.
MIK
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Jun 1, 2011 7:50:25 GMT -5
All in the family. Konica Auto S. f1.9 47mm Hexanon  Mickey |
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Mark Vaughan
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I STILL have a pile of Nikons. Considering starting a collection of Ricoh SLRs and RFs.
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Post by Mark Vaughan on Jun 8, 2011 13:17:55 GMT -5
The last Montgomery Ward store I saw was in Long Beach, CA in 1998. It was about to close down. My grandfather used to call the store "the Monkey Ward".
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Post by likaleica on Jun 8, 2016 10:16:35 GMT -5
Monkey Wards was a nick name for Montgomery Wards until Wards bought out Montgomery in the 60's
Also Konica made the branded Wards camera above.
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Post by camfiend on Jun 9, 2016 20:51:28 GMT -5
I dont know if it had any association with the Wards you refer to but when in my teens..late 1940s.. there was a Wards camera outlet in N.S.W. Australia, it disappeared in I believe in the late 60s (or at least thats when I tried to go there and found it missing) but had been quite a large store 'nostalgia' its wonderful
Bob
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Post by javidsgn on Feb 5, 2023 18:15:55 GMT -5
There was a Montgomery Ward at the mall of my youth. Montgomery Ward started 20 years before Sears Roebuck.
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