Fred Spira

[SuzanneR]

Someone I had never heard of until I read his obituary today in the Globe, but arguably, someone who has, in fact, made my life in the darkroom easier!!

www.nytimes.com/2007/09/14/arts/14s...b741066b65d106&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

 

[Monophoto]

I will forever be grateful to Fred Spira and Spiratone for the things that I learned about photography by reading their catalog, and by using the excellent equipment that I bought from them.

I am still using the Spiratone autowinder that I bought for my Nikon FM-2 back in 1983.

 

[Chazzy]

I miss those old Spiratone ads in various photography publications.

 

[Peter Schrager]

Mr. Spira

that was just the most fun place to wade through. of course I was young and had no money. very col stuff!!
Peter

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I was also young and unfunded in the heyday of Spiratone, but it was always fun to browse through all the wacky items in the catalogue--stabilization printers, macro bellows with full movements for 35mm cameras, fisheyes and fisheye adapters, super-zooms, matte boxes, mirror teles, cold cameras, all the normal filters and adapters, and all kinds of crazy stuff.

 

[Mick Fagan]

I always thought Spiratone advertisements were some of the most interesting in any photo magazine.

I actually used some of their PMT machines. These machines were about half the price of the Agfa or Dupont products, yet did the job equally well, more importantly, they lasted the distance.

There was night news photographer friend who had some really wacky film loader for 220 film onto special SS reels. As you wound the film, the paper at each end was supposed to be directed into a lower collection box, it worked, but loading by hand was quicker and in my opinion easier.

Obviously a talented and driven person.

Mick.

 

[crabby]

The Queens (NY) Spiratone store on Northern Boulevard was a great hangout for photographers. The staff was extremely friendly and offered valuable advice about paper, chemicals, developing hints, and accessories. I sigh every time I drive past the store location, remembering the good old days.

 

[juan]

I used several Spiratone products. The one I remember most is the Spiratone stabilization printer used at a small newspaper. You'd expose the paper, stick it in the machine, and a completed print would pop out in a minute or so. I don't know how archival those prints were, but they lasted long enough to make up the newspaper page.
juan

 

[AgX]

Except for his collection I never heard of him. I assume his influence and reputation was restricted to North-America.

 

[Ian Grant]

His ads in US photo magazines, those available in the UK, were always very interesting but at the time none of us ever contemplated buying from abroad.

He sold things we could only wish for.

Ian

 

[CraigH]

I still use my trusty Spiratone print dryer that I picked up in the Queens store in 1974. Wish I still had the catalog that I got with it.

Craig

 

[crabby]

You can find old copies of Popular Photography or Modern Photography on eBay. They are loaded with all the great ads.

Those of you who remember the Queens NY Spiratone would cringe if you saw the location today. It is an Asian tropical fish store.

 

[AgX]

I got two or three issues of the first magazine somewhere among my `old, printed paper´ collection. In case I'll get hold of them again, I'll search for those ads.

 

[dmr]

I remember the old Spiratone shop on 31st. very well. (I think it was 31st. anyway.) I got a lot of odds and ends there and had a lot of slides processed there, or rather sent to Kodak from there. My brother got a huge telephoto there. I only made it to the bigger shop out in Flushing a couple times.

I've always wondered why they went out of business. They were always busy whenever I would go there. Then all of a sudden >>POOF<< they were gone.

RIP Fred from a former loyal customer. (I probably ran into Fred at the shops, but didn't know exactly who he was.)

 

[Silverhead]

I used to have a brilliant Spiratone 85mm f/1.7 for my Pentax Spotmatic. Fantastic portrait lens, pity it was stolen. I still have a gorgeous 19mm ultrawide for that same camera.

 

[copake_ham]

Funny thing is, it was only about two weeks ago the David G. mentioned Spiratone in a thread.

I'd long lost memory of them; and even back then barely "knew" about them.

Then, lo and behold, to poor fellow Spira drops dead! And although his "era" ended around 1990 when he shut down the biz - perhaps he then already understood that it will never be the same again?

 

[dmr]

Funny thing is, it was only about two weeks ago the David G. mentioned Spiratone in a thread.

I'd long lost memory of them; and even back then barely "knew" about them.

What I think is funny (interesting?) is the difference in response to this announcement between here and RFF. When I saw the note I posted it over there, thinking it would probably be of interest there too.

Now this morning, I find this thread on APUG has 17 responses, and the post over at RFF has zero responses and only 17 viewings. Quite a difference.

 

[Lee Shively]

I used to jump immediately to the Spiratone ads in Modern Photography and in Popular Photography every month when the magazines came out. I loved the gadgetry available from them and I bought quite a bit of Spiratone stuff back in the days when you used postal money orders and handwritten orders sent by the US Mail Service. Most of that stuff has long ago been discarded but I still use a Spiratone paper cutter and every once in a while, when I dig through my filter collection, I discover a Spiratone skylight, UV or warming filter.

Thank you, Mr. Spira!

 

[dmr]

One semi-interesting bit of trivia ... in the article it says his name is to be pronounced "SPEE-ra" or "SPEE-ra-tone" for the business, but I remember hearing it pronounced either "SPEAR-a-tone" or "SPY-ra-tone" and I can swear I remember them answering the phone, at least in the Manhattan store as "SPY-ra-tone", I'm sure.

 

[spira]

Various Spira/Spiratone

dmr - You aren't confused. The name of the store was "SPY-ra-tone" but he pronounced our name "SPEE-ra." For whatever reason, he thought that "SPY-ra-tone" sounded better. And we have cousins who use the "SPY-ra" pronunciation in their name.

And the store went out of business soon after my father left because the owners became more interested interested in bleeding money from the company than operating it (which is why he left in the first place). (He had sold the company two decades earlier to very different owners than it ended up with).

Aqx - The stores were certainly limited to the US, but it did get a fair amount of overseas orders since there was nowhere else to get many of the items Spiratone specialized in.. As far as his influence, you may not have known it, but you wouldn't have been able to obtain t-mounts and various other items if it wasn't for him.

Thanks for the fond remembrances.

Greg Spira (Fred's son)

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Greg,

My sincere condolences. Many years ago -- 30+ -- your father bought one of the weirder Leica bits I had when I gave up collecting. I had not realized until then what an extraordinarily knowledgeable man he was. Nor had I realized until I read his obituary that he was about a decade younger than I imagined (I was in the UK and never met him). Even those who had the most fleeting contacts with him were usually well impressed.

With best regards,

Roger

 

[dmr]

First of all, Greg, so sorry about your father. He was well respected in our community.

And, welcome to APUG!

dmr - You aren't confused. The name of the store was "SPY-ra-tone" but he pronounced our name "SPEE-ra."

Thanks for clearing that up. I knew I remembered them answering the phone "SPY-ra-tone."

And the store went out of business soon after my father left because the owners became more interested interested in bleeding money from the company than operating it (which is why he left in the first place). (He had sold the company two decades earlier to very different owners than it ended up with).

Thanks for clearing that up too. I always wondered what happened to Spiratone. I moved away from the area in the 70s, never to return except to visit, and I did notice that the ads in the magazines just stopped.

Although I never made any big purchases there, it was one of my favorite places to shop when I would go into the city. I would stop at 34th. mainly for Spiratone and for Willoughby's, which was practically across the street. (My fave department stores of that era were not Macy's and Gimbels, but Alexanders and Bloomies, which were up at 59th. and Lex.)

Thanks for the fond remembrances.

Greg Spira (Fred's son)

Thank YOU for the fond remembrances. Spiratone was a good place to do business. I very seldom heard any complaints about it. It was a very clean-run business, and you can be proud of your father's legacy! Thanks for dropping by.

 

[resummerfield]

I used to jump immediately to the Spiratone ads in Modern Photography and in Popular Photography every month when the magazines came out. I loved the gadgetry available from them and I bought quite a bit of Spiratone stuff back in the days when you used postal money orders and handwritten orders sent by the US Mail Service........Thank you, Mr. Spira!

The same here. Thank you, Mr. Spira

 

[dmr]

But wait, there's more ...

Just stumbled on this ...

http://www.photoreporter.com/article.asp?issueID=&num=16&vol=15&articleType=fc&articleID=1722

... written by a gentleman for whom I have a great deal of respect ...

 

[Doyle Thomas]

I will add the founding of Spiratone as an event in the cronological histroy of Photography on my website

WWW.PRIMARYFOCUSPHOTO.COM