Here’s an unusual camera that was aimed at children to take pictures indoors or outdoors and then develop them on the spot. It stands at the top of a peculiar arrangement of plumbing-type pipes reminiscent of the mousetrap game made around this time. Perhaps that’s because both the game and the camera were made by the Ideal Toy Company in New York.
- Launched: 1968
- Price at launch: $20 (just under £9 in 1968)
- Guide price now: £200-plus with accessories, £50-100 for camera alone
The Kookie shoots small, square pictures on special sensitised paper, loaded into a cassette that slots into the back of the camera. The shutter release is in the shape of a beetle, or bug as it is known in America, a play on words that refers to shutterbugs.
Outdoors, children are advised to shoot with the sun behind them. Indoors, flash photography requires a flashcube inserted into a flashgun held by a hand beside the lens.
The camera was sold with cardboard bodies for children to hold in front of themselves as they peered over the top wearing a series of disguises and masks. These were supplied on a cardboard sheet from which they were pressed out.
An anamorphic lens disguised as a can of soup (labelled ‘Toymato Soup’) is balanced on a tray held by another hand beside the lens. Attached to the front of the camera the anamorphic distorts pictures, making subjects tall and thin, short and fat, or otherwise twisted and warped depending on its orientation.
After exposure, a cutter is operated and the paper on which the exposure has been made falls into a developing tank below the body, in which a one-shot solution produces a direct positive image to be washed under a tap and left to dry. A built-in egg timer is used to time development.
If you’re seeking a camera for serious film photography, this isn’t it. If you crave an unusual collector’s item, you’ll need to get in the queue because Kookie cameras, especially when accompanied by their box and the various accessories illustrated here, are exceedingly rare.
What’s good
- An unusual design that will appeal greatly to collectors.
What’s bad
- Unlikely that any film or developer even still existing will be usable
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