BoxCameras.com - New Gem cameras, wet-plate and dry-plate variations, Simon Wing (S. Wing & Co.), 1899-1900

Simon Wing (S. Wing & Co., Charlestown, MA)
Wet-plate and Dry-plate 'New Gem' Cameras, circa 1899-1900

Simon Wing was born on a farm in St. Albans, Maine, in 1826. During his life he would be a daguerreotypist and studio owner, an innovative camera designer and manufacturer, even a Presidential candidate (1892). In addition to camera maker, he set up, and was part owner of, many studios throughout the country, from Waterville, Maine, to San Francisco, California. In general, many Wing cameras are easy to identify by their unique sliding wood panels (often referred to as "puzzle box" on the face of the camera. These wooden panels allow the lensboard to be moved up, down, or across the front of the camera, thereby exposing (on the New Gem model) anywhere from 6 to 28 images on one 5 x 7 plate. The Wing New Gem was introduced in 1899, offered for $8.50, along with a note stating "Various sizes to order." The ad text claims, "The handiest, quickest, and most complete apparatus ever invented for the purpose." [Of making Penny Photographs] "Each and every image can be instantly adjusted without the usual removal of plateholder."
	The model on the left is the dry-plate version of the New Gem, with an original Wing pneumatic shutter mounted to the lens. The shutter is carved into a block of wood, and is quite an interesting piece on its own. Its construction actually includes the front element of the lens. The New Gem usually came equipped with a 1/9-tube brass lens; a similar Wing model, the Ajax, came with a 1/4-tube lens. The main difference between the two was that the Ajax had the 1/4-tube lens and a slightly deeper body to accommodate it. Both cameras were marketed sparingly around the turn of the century in industry publications such as The Photo Beacon.
This particular model has a 1/4-tube Dallmeyer lens instead of the Darlot lenses Wing usually preferred.. Coupled with the shallower body of the New Gem, it is clear that this was a modification made by an early photographer. These were cameras for the photographic entrepreneur, and many are found today with some level of customization that better suited the needs of the photographer. There are those in collecting circles who believe that a comprehensive camera collection should contain a daguerreotype camera, an original Kodak Camera, and a Simon Wing camera.

	This is the wet-plate version of the New Gem camera. It lacks the wood-and-rubber Wing shutter, most likely because a faster shutter speed was not necessary with slower wet-exposure chemistry. The photographer would still remove and replace the lenscap to make the exposure as it had been done for 60 years. This model has a 1/9-tube Darlot lens and bears the serial number 81 inside the body and on the back door. Since paper photographs were growing rapidly in popularity at the turn of the century, the wet-plate tintype camera was not in great demand, and as such, is quite rare today.
The back door of the wet-plate New Gem is hinged at the bottom. The image on the right shows an inset rim upon which the wet tintype plate would have been placed prior to exposure. The brass piece on the door held the wet tin plate firmly in place. Note the size of the mask - this is for true 'gem' sized images, that is, 3/4" wide by 1" tall.
Another of Wing's interesting patents: a mesh banner which resisted blowing in the wind, shown here in an unknown location advertising Chas. J Brown's Photograph & Ferrotype Studio. See if you agree: