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Ansco was the brand name of a photography company based in Binghamton, New York, which produced photographic films, papers and from the mid-19th century until the 1980s.Current, Ira. ANSCO Reminiscences Broome County Historical Society Newsletter, Spring 1995.Ollinger, James. A Brief History of Agfa, Ansco and GAF Cameras.
In the late 1880s, Ansco's predecessor, Anthony and Scovill, bought the Goodwin Camera & Film Company. Hannibal Goodwin invented flexible photographic film, which should have made Anthony and Scovill the leader in the amateur photography business. However, George Eastman copied the patented process and immediately set out to compete against Anthony and Scovill. The ruthless behavior of Eastman nearly drove the now-named Ansco out of business, but a settlement in 1905 saved the company from bankruptcy. Eastman Kodak got away cheaply in this legal proceeding. In 1928 Agfa of Germany merged with Ansco and allowed it to compete in the worldwide photographic market like its competitors, Kodak and Zeiss. This joint company added many Agfa cameras and accessories to its sales in the USA as a result. In the months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the US Government seized Agfa-Ansco. This now government-run business continued to survive as a hostile alien property (under government control into the 1960s). During this period, the organization was renamed GAF (General Aniline & Film Corporation). Throughout the postwar period the concern sold rebadged versions of cameras made by other manufacturers, including Agfa and Chinon. A Minolta-built Ansco model was the first 35 mm camera in outer space, and their film was used in space, too.
During the period before the U. S. entrance into World War II, the Agfa-Ansco business grew enormously, with added manufacturing capacity in paper, film and camera manufacturing. The company purchased a new factory building in Binghamton, which would remain its main production facility until 1977. The Agfa-Ansco interests in the U. S. and Binghamton factory were taken over by the U. S. government in 1941 due to its ties with Germany. The Ansco company was merged with General Aniline as General Aniline & Film in 1939.
==Gallery==
Color film: Anscochrome
Prior to the war, Agfa-Ansco had marketed Agfacolor film made in Germany. To assist the war effort, the company experts used available information to develop a similar product, first called Ansco Color, later Anscochrome. After the war, Anscochrome was widely distributed, but met with limited commercial success in competition with Kodak products. An important marketing feature was its greater speed in comparison to Kodachrome. About Ansco. February 7, 2008. A second advantage was that users, professional or amateur, could process the film in their own darkrooms rather than having to send it away (as with Kodachrome) albeit still needing to use cumbersome re-exposure steps like with early Kodak Ektachrome.
Post-war business
The company was the last business to be sold as enemy assets to American interests in the 1960s. At that time, a new headquarters was constructed in Vestal, New York, adjacent to the new college campus of Harpur College (now Binghamton University). This location the one of two remaining pieces of Ansco in the Binghamton area and is currently occupied by the University. The factory building at 16 Emma Street in Binghamton is currently luxury apartments. The Vestal location continued to do business as Ansco until 1967 when the company adopted the parent's name of General Aniline & Film (GAF), and a variety of cameras as well as films were sold under this name until the business was shut down in the early 1980s. Briefly in the 1970s, it was the official film of Disneyland and at this time, actor Henry Fonda served as the company's spokesman in television commercials including one that featured Jodie Foster in her first acting role. 1971 GAF View Master Commercial with Henry Fonda & Jodie Foster at YouTube The last Ansco cameras were produced in the early 1990s by a Hong Kong business that bought the rights to the name.
External links
Categories: Defunct Companies Based In New York, Binghamton, New York, Ig Farben, Photography Equipment Manufacturers Of The United States, Companies Based In Binghamton, New York, Photographic Film Manufacturers, Academy Award For Technical Achievement Winners, 1928 Mergers And Acquisitions, 1939 Mergers And Acquisitions
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