Kodak VPK Camera Model B Autographic Film Vest Pocket Folding with Chimney Box

Description

Kodak VPK Camera Model B Autographic Film Vest Pocket Folding with Chimney Box, Last patent date on this camera is 1916.
Serial number 1581832 on this fine old Vest Pocket Kodak camera, or ‘VPK’ as it was usually known, was one of the most popular and successful cameras of its day. Over 2 million were sold before the model was discontinued in 1926.  Appears complete ans shutter works as it should.
During the first decade of the 20th century there was a growing trend toward pocket-sized cameras. In January 1912,
The Amateur Photographer
magazine commented:
It is a matter for conjecture in what direction the desire for diminutive cameras (so readily met by photographic manufacturers) is leading the amateur. The limit must be surely reached soon or… no doubt highly effective cameras for plates the size of postage stamps (or smaller) will eventuate.
The Vest Pocket Kodak took film negatives slightly larger than a postage stamp—just 1⅝ by 2½ inches. This format was the same as the No 0 Folding Pocket Kodak which had been introduced 10 years earlier. However, improved design and manufacturing the camera body in metal instead of wood meant that the VPK could be made much smaller. When closed, the VPK measures just 1 by 2½ by 4¾ inches.