1939-11 Japanese "Camera" magazine featuring a Stripey Cats photo

[shiroaiko]

This is a Japanese magazine for photography, "Camera", November issue 1939. 

It features a photograph being entitled "Marbles" by Kan-ichi Hashimoto. 

The description below the photo reads " Late March, Tesser f/4.5, aperture f/11, Pan-F, 1/10sec, Yae FS paper, MQ developer, "Marbles"  Kan-ichi Hashimoto, (1st exhibition of the Amateur Photography Federation of Tokyo Department Store/s)".

We see Stripeys, cat's eyes and a few dark looking marbles on the palms. 

https://dl.ndl.go.jp/ja/pid/1501861/1/41?keyword=びー玉　橋本

 

[Ric]

This is a great addition to the archive, Aiko - maybe the earliest photo of Cat's Eye marbles I have seen.

[shiroaiko]

 It would be the earliest photo of cat's eye marbles... The search word "びー玉" or marble/s at NDL digital service brought me to the find this morning. 

 

[Steph]

Wow.  Way to nail down a date.   Gorgeous pictures too.  

[shiroaiko]

Just to review the timeline of the patents related to cat’s eye marbles:

• Seike submitted his utility model application related to cat’s eyes on March 3, 1938.

• Isogami followed to submit his own utility model focused specifically on cat's eyes on March 11.

• Later, on May 25, Isogami filed a design registration for the same type—most likely an attempt to prevent Seike from making marbles similar to his own.

• And by March of the following year, Seike’s “stripey” type marbles were already on the domestic market, and a photo documenting them was taken by Kan-ichi Hashimoto.

As for the photo itself—I believe it was taken because the photographer was moved by the beauty of these marbles resting in the hands of a hardworking person. 

 

[Steph]

Thank you.   I never would have guessed the stripeys were so early.  Winnie said that she had a for sure pre-WWII box of marbles with them, but still I couldn't wrap my head around it.  These days my memory is not serving me very well but I will try to make a place for this.