Question about a weird find at the antique mall in Asheville

I was poking around that big antique mall in Asheville last weekend, you know the one, and I found a box of old camera gear. Buried under some junk was a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye, but someone had tried to 'fix' it with what looked like modeling clay. The whole back plate was sealed shut with this bright blue stuff, and they'd even tried to mold a little grip for it. I had to laugh, but then I got sad thinking about the film probably still inside. It was only five bucks, so I bought it just to see if I could save it. Took me about an hour with a plastic spudger and some isopropyl to get the clay off without hurting the plastic. Has anyone else ever found a repair job that made you just stop and stare?

2 comments

2 Comments

mia_scott7718d ago

What kind of modeling clay were they even using? That's such a weird fix. I found an old radio once where someone replaced a knob with a glued-on bottle cap. It looked awful but I kind of loved the effort.

grant.margaret18d ago

Read an article about old electronics repairs. They said people used whatever they had on hand, like plumber's putty or even chewed bread mixed with glue. The clay was probably just kids' modeling clay that hardened over time. It wasn't meant to last, but it got the job done for a while.