Re: A "Beauty" of a story...

  • From: "Dave Saalsaa" <dsaalsaa@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <leica@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2008 09:17:28 -0600

David, this is a great story and I am happy that your "Beauty" is in your 
possession and of rare value.  It is a beautiful camera to boot and looks to be 
in marvelous condition inspite of the curiousity of a 10 or 12 year old.  ;-)  

Dave
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: David Young 
  To: leica@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ; lug@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Friday, January 11, 2008 10:31 AM
  Subject: OT: A "Beauty" of a story...


  Caution:  A fun story, with no Leica content.


  When I was 10 or 12 years of age (in the long, long ago)  I developed a nasty 
habit of taking my Dad's camera's apart, to see what made them "tick".

  In the late 1980's, Dad brought me his old "Beauty Six", a 620 film "folder". 
 It was in it's original box and with it's original "never-ready" case. He said 
that I might as well have the camera, as (a) he'd hardly ever used it, and (b) 
of the six cameras he'd owned, it was the only one I'd ever got back together!

  Last February, I'd posted this little story, on the LRflex (Leica Reflex 
http://www3.telus.net/~telyt/lrflex.htm) list and promptly forgot about it.

  Now fast-forward to this past week.  Rose and I returned home from our 
Christmas/New Years jaunts, visiting friends and relatives, to find a note from 
a chap in Paris, who had found my post, from last year, in the LRflex archives.

  It turns out that he is an editor of the Camerapedia (part of, or similar to 
the Wickipedia) and he was researching the "Beauty Six", the one camera of my 
Dad's, which I had managed to put back together!  He gave me a link to his 
article  ( http://camerapedia.org/wiki/Beauty_Six ) and I was both surprised 
and excited to learn that only two surviving examples of this 1953 camera are 
known to exist... and thus, mine might be the third!

  So I took numerous photos, and sent them to him.  The day before yesterday, I 
got a reply from him, saying that the camera I have is not the rare 1953 
model... but an earlier 1950 model, by a different maker, which is even more 
rare!  Until I contacted him, only one surviving example had been known to 
exist, and now that number is two!

  He has updated the Camerapedia article on the Frank Six (the later version of 
the 1950 Beauty Six) to cover my camera. This article is now illustrated with 
several photos.

  http://camerapedia.org/wiki/Frank_Six

  The gentleman has asked for more photos of my Beauty Six, which I will, of 
course, send him.  Thus, the make-up of this page may change, over the coming 
weeks.

  For those who are interested in more photos, now, I have set up a small 
web-page about my "Beauty Six", which can be found at:

  http://www.furnfeather.net/Personal/six/Beauty.htm

  I don't think that ownership of this beast will ever bring me fame or 
fortune, but the discovery of the heritage of my Beauty Six has certainly made 
the week interesting!  It's one story which I wish I could tell my Dad!

  Thanks for reading.

  Cheers!



------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  No virus found in this incoming message.
  Checked by AVG Free Edition. 
  Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.1/1219 - Release Date: 1/11/2008 
10:19 AM

Other related posts: