Starflash

 12-18-06

I can’t tell you exactly when I fell in love with photography. But I do remember my first camera. And my second. And my third. I’ve had many cameras since then and with each one my love for photography has deepened and widened.

My first camera was a Brownie Starflash. I was in the sixth grade (circa 1960). It cost my mother three books of S&H Green Stamps. If you are younger than 50 years, you probably don’t know what S&H Green stamps are, but that is another story. We were very poor. My parents could not afford to buy one outright.

I had been hounding them for a camera for well over a year and that is probably how long it took to accumulate that many stamps. As I recall three books equated to about $9.00, which in those days could buy a week’s supply of groceries for our family. Mom and dad were always of the opinion that eating was more important than luxury items.

The Starflash transformed me from rags to riches. Actually, I didn’t realize at the time how poor we were, but with that camera I was the richest kid in the sixth grade. As it turned out, I never got to use Brownie very much because film, flash bulbs (again, if you are under 50 you probably don’t remember flash bulbs), and processing required money we didn’t have and you could not get those items with S&H Green Stamps.

That lowly little camera now occupies a place of esteemed prominence in my office. It hasn’t worked in years, but the flame it ignited still burns. It will never be extinguished.