Toy enlarger

Michael Firstlight · Mar 5, 2021

I remember the very first time I developed a roll of negatives from a 126 Kodak Instamatic and printed my first prints from that roll around 1972, I was hooked for life at 14 years old. I had received a toy enlarger kit as a gift. The enlarger was plastic and projected horizontally; it used a flashlight bulb as the light source. After that I upgraded to a Bogen T35, but I've never seen that kit since nor even a photo of that enlarger. Did anyone have the same - I would love to find a photo of that kit.

MFL

voceumana · Mar 5, 2021

It was probably an Ansco enlarger kit. For one Christmas after I started having interest in photography, my parents gave me an Ansco kit which included a contact printer, developing tank, starter chemicals, and some contact printing paper. Ansco also made a horizontal enlarger out of plastic, mostly, with some fixed enlarging sizes. There is one on ebay right now--search for ansco enlarger. Image is here: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/3RoAAOSwxOReP1eO/s-l500.jpg

Other manufacturers might have made something similar.

removedacct1 · Mar 5, 2021

Michael, that sounds exactly like what I had too, when I was 13! The Ansco doesn't look familiar, but it was definitely a horizontal projector type printer like that.

AgX · Mar 5, 2021

There were several of such. Philips and Lomo offered such educational kits too.

Here the Lomo Konstruktor kit (From true Lomo, not from Lomography). Based on a kind of Smena housing:
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/lomo-35mm-camera-enlarger-toy-421898671

Michael Firstlight · Mar 5, 2021

That's very much what it looked like. I recall it came with dry Kodak D76 chem for film and Dektol for print.

Mike

Andrew O'Neill · Mar 5, 2021

Cool! In 1972, I was too interested jumping like Evil Kneival, and playing with my crystal radio, and dad's 8mm movie camera. I would have had a blast if I had that toy enlarger!

AgX · Mar 5, 2021

This thread made me clear that one might discern between "toy" and "educative" projector/camera.

Donald Qualls · Mar 5, 2021

A year or two after that, I had an actual enlarger I'd gotten at a yard sale. Never got to use it at home, but I used it at (boarding) school a few times.

Michael Firstlight · Mar 5, 2021

AgX said:
This thread made me clear that one might discern between "toy" and "educative" projector/camera.

It wasn't an education or a toy now that I think about it - it was the equivalent of crack cocaine!

Donald Qualls · Mar 5, 2021

"Hey, kid, want a free sample?"

removedacct1 · Mar 5, 2021

Michael Firstlight said:
It wasn't an education or a toy now that I think about it - it was the equivalent of crack cocaine!

I thought of mine as the Easy Bake Oven of enlargers!

ic-racer · Mar 6, 2021

You were lucky to get an enlarger. My first developing kit came with Kodak tri-chem packs, 3 5x7 trays, a spiral tank, and a contact print frame. The largest format camera in the house was my moms old 127 TLR. But even then, the prints were so tiny, I wanted an enlarger so bad.

BobD · Mar 6, 2021

Is this it?

tezzasmall · Mar 7, 2021

I had a black plastic kit version in the UK, when I was about 13. All I remember was that it was a real let down and my dad taking me and the repackaged parcel back to the Post Office to send it back for a refund.

Not being able to afford all of the lovely Paterson ware, that I drooled over most weekends in the only photographic shop in the town, I made use of other items. My first enlarger was the suitcase Zenith, which did me proud for a good number of years.

Terry S

AgX · Mar 7, 2021

I guess yours was the true Foto Konstruktor kit from Lomo. Intended as educational tool.

Danner · Mar 14, 2021

My high school had an excellent darkroom with multiple enlargers, free chemistry, and even a ferrotype electric belt-fed print dryer. Always available. Freshman year I got hooked and joined the school newspaper and yearbook staff or the next four years, Those were the days, my friend, those were the days

Toy enlarger

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