Old Agfa Advertising Sign

[photax]

Hi !

Last weekend i came around a countryside fleamarket, where i bought a almost new russian M-39-mount Jupiter 11/135 for ca. 2.-USD ;D. On my way back home, i came across an old grubby Agfa-sign and asked the guys standing around there, if they know to whom this item would belong. A man told me, that this has been seperated for the bulky waste and i may take it for free (which i did immediately). At home i cleaned it with soap and water and after five minutes it turned out to be a both-sided 1950`s Agfa-Shop sign made of glass ( no breakage, no scratches ). This was astonishing, `cause this old signs will sell in europe for 200.- USD and more. I have actually no idea where i should place it, but i will keep it...

MIK

[Randy]

Wow! That's great!

[nikonbob]

Interesting find. I would have grabbed it too and worried about where to put it later. There must be a hidden pack rat in some of us.

Bob

[pompiere]

Gtreat sign. I also would grab it and worry about what to do with it later. Is that sign made to be mounted horizontally, extended from a wall or store front over the sidewalk?

[photax]

Ron,
This is a horizontally sign to be mounted extended from the wall, as you guessed. The diamond-shaped metal framework has a additional loop for hanging up ( i think with a chain ), because this one weights 7kg ( 15,4lb).

Bob,
You wrote: There must be a hidden pack rat in some of us. I assume, i am one of these, the following pictures will show you why. Here is a part of my photographica, brought together in all these years and displayed in my cave.
PS: Is" ratpack" the plural of "packrat"?

MIK

[drako]

Holy Mother of Mercy!!

[nikonbob]

Nov 4, 2009 15:13:07 GMT -5 @drako said:

Holy Mother of Mercy!!

I'll second that. Wait till Curt sees these photos, he won't feel so bad. That is a well organized collection you have there and nicely displayed.

Bob

[Microdad]

Wow! That's a camera collection!

[Just Plain Curt]

Cool collection. I see like most of us, a few movie cameras and Polaroids, odd lenses and projectors, enlargers, etc. Have you ever drawn up a written inventory or list? I only ask since your shelves and display are much nicer than mine so I thought maybe your file system would be as well organised. Good to see I'm not alone. Put the brakes on with eBay myself as this month I overdid a wee bit. If I ever get anything finished in my basement I'll try and post a few too. I even have Olympus cloth banners and Pentax Spotmatic wall signs, but no Agfa .....yet.

[pompiere]

I will be sure to show those photos to my kids who think I have too many cameras. I might have one example from each shelf (except the stereo cameras), but I don't have any where close to your collection, maybe 40 cameras total. I am more of a user than a collector, so I try to stay with 35mm cameras so I can buy film easily. I only buy other cameras if I find them very interesting and inexpensive. Many of the odd cameras were given to me by people cleaning out their closets or tossed in when I bought something else. That is an amazing collection and it is beautifully displayed.

[mickeyobe]

Photax,

Wow! What an extraordinary collection.

I am taken by your shelving. THey seem to have the perfect depth and height. Did you make them?

Mickey

[Deleted]

If I had that I probably wouldn't have been married 43 years.

[photax]

Hi !

I am collecting cameras and accessories since i was 14 years old, starting with my grandfathers Leica 1 ( still my only Leica ) and some old cameras donated from my relatives and my friends parents and so on. In the early 1980`s i worked as a photo shop salesman and at that time customers often came, trying to sell their inherited vintage photo-stuff. I still remember a customer asking for ( equalling ) 25.- USD for a 6x6 Rolleiflex 2.8F Outfit, i bought it for sure Most of my photographica are gifts from relatives, friends, collegues ( and their freinds, relatives...), or fleamarket bargains. There are a lot of them at the weekend in Vienna and the viennese area ( where still extraordinary lowpriced items can be found ). Once i saved a diasassembled handcranked 1920 Ernemann 35mm-Cinema-Movie Projector-Head from the junkyard for the price of the iron-weight and restored it with my son. I don`t purchase often things by auction on ebay, because they are far too expensive and the auction end-prices sometimes are completely crazy ( like the plastic Dianas, or the Polaroid SX-70 ). I think, everyone who have enough money to burn, is able to buy a complete collection, but this is not fun at all.

Currently my collection consists of ca. 1200 cameras of all sizes from ca.1885-1960s, 120 movie cameras ( mostly 8mm and 9.5mm from 1920-1950s ), 55 movie projectors from the 1920-1930s, 100 slide projectors ( including ca. 20 Laterna Magicas ) from 1880-1950s, 100 stereo viewers from 1860-1950s, ca. 2000 stereo cards, 50 viewmaster viewers from 1938-1970s and a lot of historic accessories ( 50 photometers, 25 mechanical self timers, several flashes, boxes full of negative glass plates...). All articles are numbered and, as Curt guessed, listed with manufacturer, country of origin, model, year of construction, lens, value aso... in excel-sheets. Now i am trying to insert pictures in this lists, but this would take me years to to

Mickey, i built the shelfs by myself ( without help ) with sprucewood plankes from the building center. Beechwood is more beautiful and solid but four times expensive. it was a lot of measuring necessary to get the optimum height and depth.

Wayne, you can still stay married, even with such a collection, if the house is big enough As a happily divorced man ( my collection was not the cause of it ) i have no problems at all. And this allowes me, if i like, to mount the old Agfa-sign in the center of my living room My girlfriend has her own appartment and is collecting vintage toys, so there is also no problem for the weekend planning...

MIK

[Deleted]

MIK

Don't think I've ever seen as large and varied collection. It appears you have quite a selection of stereo gear. I even spotted several aerial cameras on a shelf.

Movie gear collecting is an area where there hasn't seemed to be much interest so I suspect you can get some real deals of equipment that originally cost a lot of money.

Have a friends that worked in a photo shop back in the '80s and '90s and has a very complete collection of Nikon F models and lenses he picked up cheap from people who wanted to sell it (the store management wasn't interested). Guess that be a collector's dream job.

Wayne

[Mark Vaughan]

Un-flippin'-believable. You could open a small museum and charge admission. When we go to Austria next year I'm asking my wife if we can stop by your cave for a look-see.

Mark