Kodak Hawkeye

There were also examples labelled “Brownie Fiesta” and “Brownie Flash”. The original design did not have a flash facility, but the Flash model was added in 1950 and called the Brownie Flash in France and the Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Flash in the USA. Earlier models of the camera have a metal film advance knob; later models have a knurled plastic knob.

The camera is compact, box-shaped, with a carrying handle on top and a winding knob to the photographer’s right. The design aesthetic is a throw-back to the Art Deco era of the 1920’s, with clean minimalist fluting on the sides and an attractively-designed front. This camera is the work of an Arthur H Crapsey, who designed other plastic box cameras with similar aesthetics such as the Kodak Brownie Bull’s-Eye and the Kodak Brownie Star series, as well as some more advanced cameras for Kodak in the 40’s and 50’s.