Books:

Discovered! 505
Odd Enterprises

Hidden Dollars

How to Make
Money at Home

Small Business
of Your Own

You Can Own
a Business

One day when we were showing the pictures we had made to a group of friends, a woman said to her husband, "Maybe Mr. Cox could copy that picture of Uncle Henry, which is the only one in existence, and I could have an extra print to send to my sister." Whether it was the contortionist that reminded her of her Uncle Henry or the fact that we had successfully copied a photograph which impelled her to have her uncle's picture reproduced, I don't know. But we made the picture for her and received payment for it. This gave us the idea for which we had been looking and from it we have developed a little gold mine right in our Orlando, Florida, home.

Our business is to make photographic reproductions from either new or ancient photos. The field is broad and full of opportunities. We have also made copies of marriage certificates, ministerial credentials, diplomas, letters, charts, printed matter and art work.

Mrs. Cox and I had been developing films and making our own prints for years. We had been wanting to develop a spare time money making project, along photographic lines, that would be the means of bringing in extra money. It had to be something we could do at home. Knowing how to develop a film and make contact prints is one thing; knowing how to reproduce an old photograph by copying, is quite another. This, we had to learn from scratch. Anyone can learn it if he is willing to apply himself. It was a real challenge to us. I was employed and Mrs. Cox had our two children and her household duties to care for. Every hour we could spare was spent studying and experimenting with our new found craft. One learns by doing. We borrowed everything available from the library on the subject, We wrote to the Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, New York, for information on copying. We learned about films, filters, papers, developers and the proper type of camera for this work.

LOCATING AN old 5-by-7 view camera, which we purchased for $10, gave us something to start with. We bought a book entitled "Negative Retouching and Print Finishing," by Draper and Harkness, published by the Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. This little book was worth its weight in gold to us. From it we learned something about retouching negatives and prints. Knowledge of how to do this is an absolute essential in our line of work. After spending a number of weeks in study and practice, we felt we were ready to invest in a more elaborate camera. We located a 3¼-by-4¼ Graflex camera with a double extension bellows for $125. It was equipped with a Schneider Xenar f4.5 lens, six film holders and a couple of filters. We had decided on this type of camera because of its versatility. It is a combination reflex and ground glass focusing instrument and so far out-performed the old camera that the latter was discarded entirely.

In experimenting, we found that any camera has its limitations. The make of the lens is not so important. Any good lens that will give sharp definition over a flat field will be satisfactory as far as the lens is concerned. The double extension bellows is necessary in copy work because the photographer has to copy small pictures as well as larger ones. The extra extension permits a slight enlargement even at the time of copying.

During the weeks of preparation, we had given a good deal of thought to the various ways we might obtain pictures for copying. We had thought of advertising in the newspapers and magazines. We thought of using the circular letter method. But somehow this approach did not click with us. Having spent sometime as a specialty salesman, in years gone by, I was reminded of a very excellent means of getting the business. I decided on the plan of calling from house to house, showing samples of the various types of work we could do.

We made up our sample book from a loose leaf zipper binding which helped to protect the contents. The first page showed a tiny picture 1½ inches wide by 2¼ inches long. On the same page we showed the picture enlarged to 5 by 7. The enlargement was snappy and brilliant. The price was shown as, One 5-by-7 enlargement, $3.95. One 8-by-10 enlargement, $4.95. On the next page we displayed a picture 2¼ by 3¼ inches in size showing a broken and cracked area, but with only slight damage. This was priced at only a couple of dollars above the base price shown on the first page.

Various types of copy work were illustrated on the next few pages such as marriage certificates, ministerial credentials, diplomas, letters and charts. This type of copy, instead of being enlarged, was reduced in size to fit in a bill fold. The price was $2 flat rate if no retouching was required.

On the next page we illustrated the work we could do in producing a good enlargement by copying a small picture that was damaged. The price, of course, depended on the amount of work required to make a good copy. Here again we had the advantage. We could screen the pictures and take in only those we knew we could finish satisfactorily. If the customer dug out an old picture that was broken in two or three places, we could explain as tactfully as possible our limitations.

We learned to screen the pictures carefully. I recall one day as I was calling from house to house, that I ran across an elderly woman who brought out an old picture broken in six pieces. It was a picture of her father who had been dead for forty years. Originally the picture had been about 16 by 20 inches in size. But some of the pieces were missing. The left shoulder was gone and so was the left ear. I told her I would do my best on the picture for $7. I learned afterward by experience that the price should have been $25. Anyway she accepted the price of $7 and I took the pieces home to begin reconstruction. I have never got into such a mess again. I gave the man a new shoulder. I gave him a new ear, but the ear looked more like an oyster than anything else. The old man had no tie in the original but I gave him one. I spent hours and hours on this old picture. And when I had done my best I took it back to the customer with fear and trembling. The woman looked at it for a full minute without saying a word. And then her only comment was, "Good night, I didn't know he looked like that."

THERE ARE wonderful possibilities in this type of business. One can expand the business as much as he desires. A certain number of patrons could be obtained through advertising. One could hire agents to work for him on a commission basis.

We tried the plan of employing agents to get the business and paid them 40 per cent commission on all they brought in. They collected the 40 per cent at the time they took the order. The old pictures to be copied were mailed to us with full instructions. We made the enlargements and mailed the finished pictures to the customers C.O.D. for the balance owed. This is a splendid plan if we could make it a full time job. But since we run this business as a hobby, we prefer to get the business ourselves and screen the pictures as has been explained. Then again, we save the 40 per cent commission we paid the agents and by delivering the pictures personally, the customer can see them before paying for them.

The matter of fitting up a darkroom in which to do our work was not a major problem with us. One room in our house had a very large closet with a lavatory already installed. In this closet we set up our first darkroom. We brought in a rough table and covered it with linoleum. Upon this table we placed the Solar enlarger, a pan for developing prints, one for the short stop, and another for the hypo. Films and photographic papers were stored in a light proof drawer. Red and white bulbs were installed and we had a darkroom. The contact printer was placed at a convenient location as were also the two adjustable 4-by-5 FR developing tanks and a black box, light proof, for loading film holders and for loading the film tanks.

In the room adjoining the darkroom we set up the copying easel. It is fastened to the wall and folds up out of the way when not in use. On this easel we arranged two lights with reflectors. The lights are the ordinary 100-watt frosted bulbs set at an angle so the light is directed on the copy stand. After experimenting a bit we could take a number of pictures quite rapidly by changing only the f. stops or the time of exposure as needed. Twelve or fifteen pictures an hour can be made in this way with one helper.

Stained or scratched originals are handled much slower. Special attention has to be given these before the copy can be made. We try to cover the scratched places by blending a spotting medium over the scratches. If the original is stained or spotted, we try to overcome this with filters. If the spot is yellow we use a yellow filter. Occasionally, however, a bromide print will be so badly faded that it would be impossible to make a good negative of it without special treatment of the faded print before copying. But by passing the faded print through certain solutions, part of its original brilliancy returns temporarily. Then the copy is made. It goes without saying that only a print that is worth a great deal to the customer is worth the time and trouble, to try the restoration of a faded print. But there are such prints and the customer is willing to pay a good price to have the work done.

WHEN THE customer requests a picture from a faded print, we explain that we can only try. The original may be ruined in the process. If the customer is willing to run the risk we write up the order in that way and have him sign it, giving us the permission to try to restore it so a copy can be made. In the shop we place the faded print in a solution of one fluid ounce of formalin to nineteen ounces of water. The print is kept in this hardening solution for two or three minutes. After this we wash the print for five minutes in clear water. The next step is to bleach the print. This is done in Eastman Stain Remover S-6. The stain remover is made up in two stock solutions, A and B. We use equal parts of these, mixing them thoroughly. We now bleach the print in these combined solutions for three or four minutes, then clear it in a one per cent solution of sodium bisulfite. After rinsing well, we now bring it out to its fullest brilliancy by putting it through a one to four solution of Dektol (Eastman). This means one part Dektol to four parts of water. If successful the print should be quite brilliant.

Now we are ready for the next step. We take the restored original that has been somewhat improved and make a copy negative from it. From the negative, we make an enlargement. If the negative needs retouching, we retouch it and make another print enlargement. We work with it, retouching the picture and negative until we have produced the best enlargement we are capable of making. This is where the price goes into higher figures. For this procedure we charge $20. But really, all this is not as complicated as it sounds. One must be set up for this type of work or it can be very complicated. There are those who say we do not charge enough for our work. Perhaps they are right. However, I'm glad we have such jobs only occasionally.

For negative retouching and spotting prints a kit has been prepared that does excellent work. The instruments used are the etching knife, retouching dope, pencils, gray-A1 dye, cotton swabs and spotting brushes. It takes skill to handle these simple tools, however. One must practice for hours before he learns the technique. Big commercial shops use air brushes in restoring mutilated prints. The finished product is of excellent quality generally. Learning this method is our next objective.

For the most part we use only two types of film in our work. The Super Pan Press Type B is a splendid film. It enables us to use filters for different effects. This film is developed in DK 60-A. The number of minutes developed depends on the contrast wanted. The other type is the Contrast Process Pancromatic film. This film is used where extreme contrast prints are needed such as printed matter. We develop these film in D-11.

MRS. COX AND I work as a team. I bring in the business and after that we work together. I took $60 worth of orders the first day out. Many days by working from early morning to late afternoon I have rolled up $100 worth of orders. Our profits will run 80 per cent of the gross sales on 90 per cent of our business. We speak of our profits as everything above actual cost of material, although strictly speaking, our time should also be taken into consideration.

Our inventory amounts to about $900. Most of this is in equipment. We have a camera, four filters, twelve film holders, a roll film adapter, a film pack adapter, two developing tanks for cut film and one for roll film. We have a copying easel, a retouching easel with a retouching set, a Solar enlarger, a contact printer, developing pans, an oil color kit and a good stock of chemicals and papers on hand. Even for a full time job, there would be little else needed.

We cannot overemphasize the importance of learning the art of retouching. It is by far the most important single phase of this business. If one did not want to take the time to learn the tedious art of retouching before starting in business, he might find someone skilled in the art to do his work for him. This, of course, would cut down on the profits. A very recent book entitled "Negative and Print Retouching," by Anne J. Anthony, published by Greenberg of New York, is tops. Anyone interested in learning the art could profit from this book.