The Greeley History Museum’s newest exhibit features local artifacts that guide visitors on a journey from 19th-century box cameras to today’s smartphones.
The Evolution of Cameras
The exhibit starts with the most basic component of photography: recording light. It takes visitors from the earliest recorded history of cameras 2,400 years ago to the breakthrough experiments of the 19th century. The museum’s earliest artifact is from 1885 – a No. 2 Bulls-Eye Kodak box camera.
Many of the exhibit’s artifacts contain details about their former owners. A former Weld County judge donated a Kodak Trimprint camera. A Kodak Petite Single-Lens was a 1920s graduation present. One item of interest is the Epplen’s Drug Store sign. From 1917 to 1922, this downtown Greeley store sold Kodak cameras and photography supplies. A local resident recovered the sign from under his roof shingles. It had apparently been used to patch a hole, according to museum records.
The exhibit offers an interactive element for visitors. They can browse a large collection of photos from notable Weld County and Greeley photographers. These images range from the late 1800s to the early 2000s.