Introduction:
The Sears, Roebuck and Company (Sears) has been a mail order catalog
source since 1891. The first catalog bearing the Sears, Roebuck and
Company name was issued in 1893 and contained nearly 200 pages. Sears
has been offering photographic equipment through general distribution
catalogs for almost 100 years. During that time, Sears has made a wide
variety of items available: professional cameras, movie equipment,
photographic supplies, and a multitude of amateur models. According to
Sears, the 1896 catalog was the first to carry equipment, and offered
tripods, printing papers, chemicals, magic lanterns, stereo cameras,
lenses, and other photographic necessities. It also made an assortment
of folding cameras and box cameras, such as the Kombi, available to the
general public. It appears that Sears established its first brand name
in 1901, when it placed the name Seroco (for Sears, Roebuck and Company)
on several folding models. Over the next several years, Sears would
expand its own line of cameras; a number of which were made in Rochester,
Minnesota by the Conley Camera Company. A review of the 1908 Sears
catalog shows that 22 pages of equipment were offered. Listed were the
Conley Magazine, Senior Folding, Pocket Folding, Stereo Box, and Professional
Stereoscopic cameras, as well as numerous other Conley models.
According to Sears, Conley cameras disappeared from the catalog in 1927. Over the next two decades, photographers would be offered an assortment of cameras including the Agfa Shur-Shot, Midget Marvel, Speed Graphic, Detrola, Marvel View, and the Twinflex Reflex. During the World War II period, Sears provided only a limited amount of equipment; including movie cameras and projectors. In 1947, Sears initiated the Tower name for its own brand of cameras and supplies.
Over the next 20 years, the Tower brand name would
become quite well known as Sears placed it on many different models from
subminiatures to medium/large format press cameras. The method by which
Sears convinced manufacturers to let them market their equipment under the
Tower name was not determined, however, Sears was apparently quite successful
at securing a range of models in all price categories.
As Sears moved into the 1950's, the marketing of photographic equipment became
very aggressive. Sears was already publishing a separate Camera Specialty Catalog
including cameras such as the Retina, Contax, Rolleiflex, and Nikon rangefinder
models. Familiar to many collectors, Sears provided a Leica copy manufactured
by the Nicca Camera Company (Tower Type-3) as well as an assortment of Nikkor
lenses. To provide for a line of 35mm cameras that were both well made and
reasonably priced, Sears offered the products of AOC. It has been speculated
that Sears entered into an agreement with AOC to market the Asahiflex cameras
as a result of arrangement already in place over the sale of AOC binoculars.
In any event, starting with the Tower 23 in 1954, and finishing with the Tower 29
in 1959, Sears would make the Asahiflex and two of the three early penta-prism
models available to the general public. Information was not available on the
number of early AOC cameras sold through Sears, however, it appears that they
were the largest independent retailer of Asahiflex cameras in the North America,
and possibly in the world.
Tower 23
The Tower 23 was the first AOC model sold through Sears. Many collectors are familiar with the Tower 23, because they associate it with the Asahiflex IIB; which for many years was claimed to have contained the first instant return mirror. The Tower 23 first appeared in the Fall 1954 general merchandise catalog and the 1955 Camera Specialty catalog and was always sold with the 50mm f/3.5 Asahi-Kogaku Takumar. The Tower 23 was offered through the catalog system until the last 1959 catalogs, and appears to be the most common Tower Asahiflex.
Publications addressing the Tower Asahiflex models sometimes list the Asahiflex I
as having been offered as simply "Tower". A review of the Tower models found that
the listing is the result of early Sears catalog illustrations that show an
Asahiflex I with a Tower name plate and the Tower logo on the top of the waist
level finder. Research on Asahiflex cameras failed to identify any Asahiflex I
cameras sold through Sears under the Tower brand name. If collectors have
information otherwise, I would appreciate hearing from them.
The first Asahiflex sold through Sears was the Asahiflex IA. The sale of the Asahiflex IA as the first Tower 23 was documented through the collection of examples, and through a review of existing catalogs, advertisements, and articles. Establishing that the first Tower 23 was an Asahiflex IA explains why Sears did not promote the instant return mirror in early catalog listings. In September 1954, the Tower 23 was included in a review of new 35mm cameras in the U.S. publication Popular Photography. The camera had the style of lens indicative of the Asahiflex IA, and the model IA would be the Asahiflex camera most available at the time the review was prepared for publication.
It was quite easy for Sears to offer an Asahiflex camera as the Tower 23. By removing the Asahiflex name tag and replacing it with one engraved as "TOWER 23", Sears could quickly market the cameras as their own brand. In fact, it appears that the move to market the Asahiflex as the Tower 23 was done so rapidly, that the Asahiflex IA models still have the AOC logo on the finder. Asahiflex IIB and IIA cameras sold later through Sears have blank finder tops. The movement to a blank finder indicates that sales through this giant American merchandise catalog were impressive enough to induce AOC to make production changes just for Sears. The Tower 23 units produced from the Asahiflex IIB model also show the expected cosmetic variations, such as the slow speed dial patch, embossed "Asahi Opt. Co." on back leatherette, reticule on focusing screen, and many others.
The Tower 23, with the 50mm f/3.5 Asahi-Kogaku Takumar lens, ranged from $79.50 in
1955 to what would be considered a closeout price of $65.00 in 1959. There was one
earlier reference to a price in the $89.00 range, but no catalog contained such a
listing. Throughout most of its availability period, the Tower 23 cost $77.50, and
the drop in price was most likely the result of the arrival of the Asahi Pentax
penta-prism models. A plain leather eveready case was optional for approximately
$6.50, and those distributed with the early models had a small lens cavity that fit
the 50mm focal length lens when closed.
Tower 24
In the 1956 spring General merchandise catalog, Sears introduced the second Tower model; the Tower 24. The Tower 24 is quite simply a Tower 23 (Asahiflex IIB) with the 58mm f/2.4 Asahi-Kogaku Takumar. No Asahiflex IA cameras have been documented as being sold as the Tower 24. The Tower 24 was available in the Sears catalogs for a period of only two years (1956 and 1957) and is the least common of the Tower Asahiflex models. In over five years of intensive Asahiflex collecting, I have only been made aware of six examples of this Tower model. The Tower 24 is usually the last Tower Asahiflex model obtained by collectors. As with the Tower 23, the Tower 24 units show the cosmetic variations routinely found on the basic IIB cameras.
With the Tower 24, Sears began offering the AOC leather case with the extended
lens cavity. In the 1958 Sears catalogs, the Tower 24 was dropped in favor of
the newer Tower 22 (Asahiflex IIA) with its extended shutter speed range. The
Tower 24 was offered for $98.50 during its entire catalog availability period.
Tower 22
To take advantage of the Asahiflex IIA, Sears created the Tower 22. The Tower 22 was available for the first time in the Spring 1957 catalogs, and was only sold with the 58mm f/2.4 lens. For those collectors that enjoy keeping paper items, the 1957 Camera Specialty and general catalogs are the only ones where all three Asahiflex Tower models were available at the same time. The Tower 22, initially sold for $118.50, but was reduced to the price of the Tower 24 ($98.50) when the Tower 24 was dropped in 1958. By 1957, Sears had expanded the accessory and lens lines so that the Tower 22, 23, and 24 represented a rather complete photographic line.
It is not known why Sears waited until 1957 to introduce the Tower 22. The Asahiflex
IIA was released for sales by AOC in February 1955, and advertised in the U.S. in
1956. Perhaps AOC's efforts to open a nationally scoped advertising campaign caused
a delay in the agreements to purchase the Asahiflex IIA for sale under the Tower
brand name. Sears provided its own instruction book for the Tower 22, 23, and 24.
The instruction book, which covered all three models, included information on the
cameras, lenses, and accessories. It was not determined what instruction book was
distributed with the early Tower 23 models sold before the introduction of the
models 22 and 24.
Accessory Lenses for Tower AOC Cameras
Throughout the sales period of the Asahiflex Tower models, Sears offered a number
of different accessory lenses. In the initial advertisements in the Sears catalogs,
the Tower 23 was offered absent any accessory lenses. Then, in the Fall of 1955,
Sears offered the 100mm f3.5 Asahi-Kogaku Takumar lens for approximately $50.00.
In the spring of 1956, Sears offered a 105 f/4.5 Steinheil Cassar with a Tower 23
at a package price of approximately $100.00. Occasionally, one of these Tower 23
outfits will become available on the collector's market. Such lenses sold through
Sears usually have the Tower logo stamped into the metal on barrel.
In the 1956 Camera Specialty Catalog, Sears made a full line of lenses available.
The lenses, Shown in Table 2, were: 85mm f/2.8 Steinheil Culminar, 100mm f/3.5 Asahi,
135mm f/4.5 Steinheil Cassar, and 500mm f/5 Asahi-Kogaku Takumar. During the period
of availability of the Asahiflex Tower models, Sears sold all of the Asahi-Kogaku
Takumar lenses. It is interesting to note that in 1959, Sears dropped the AOC and
Steinheil models in favor of lenses made by Kyoei Optical Company. Sears only
offered the 135mm and 250mm Kyoei lenses, and not the 80mm f/3.5 or 105mm f3.5
models also reportedly available in the Asahiflex mount.
Sears did offer one very significant lens for the Tower Asahiflex cameras; the 35mm
f/2.5 Tower model. The lens was first offered in 1958, and was manufactured by an
unknown Japanese source. It has also been documented under the "Fujitar' and
"Optinar" names. Prior to the introduction of this lens, the widest view available
came through the use of the 50mm f/3.5 Asahi-Kogaku Takumar. For the current owners
and collectors of Asahiflex cameras, acquiring one of these lenses is a top priority.
The lens has a minimum aperture of f/22, it is ideal for scenic photography, and,
it is a key piece in the outfits that I take for a backpacking or camping trip.
This lens is only occasionally seen on the collector's market.
Other Sears Accessories
Up until the 1956 Camera Specialty Catalog, the accessories offered for the Asahiflex
models were fairly limited. The only non-lens accessory available until that time
was a body case with a shallow lens cavity to fit the 50mm f/3.5 Asahi-Kogaku Takumar.
It should be noted that the camera cases sold by Sears were the basic AOC styles with
either the Tower logo on the lens cavity front (first case), or no manufacturers'
identification at all (plain front).
In 1956, Sears began selling a microscope attachment and extension tubes, and the
accessories sold were manufactured by AOC. During my review, only one example of
a non-AOC extension tube set was identified that fit the 37mm mount. No
manufacturers' information was available. In 1957, Sears added the bellowscope
and the reproduction kit to the catalog, and offered an essentially complete line
of AOC Asahiflex and Asahi Pentax accessories.
Collecting the Tower Models.
Collectors of the Asahiflex and early Asahi Pentax cameras enjoy obtaining examples of the Tower variations. By conducting a thorough search at collector shows, outfits can be assembled that contain Tower light meters, cases, film, hoods, and other interesting accessories sold at the time of the early AOC models. In general, collectors will find the Tower 23 (Asahiflex IIB) most available. Almost equally available is the Tower 22. It appears that collectors will have a more difficult time acquiring examples of the Tower 24, 26, and 29. Occasionally entire Tower outfits will become available on the market. These outfits sometimes contain a camera, several lenses sold through Sears, cases, and occasionally extension tubes or a bellows units. As mentioned previously, the Tower Asahiflex cameras will contain all of the appropriate variations of the Asahiflex line, and therefore provide an opportunity for collectors to obtain examples of some of the less common cosmetic variations.
I hope that this article on the Sears, Roebuck and Company Tower models helped
some internet readers enhance their collecting library. I want to acknowledge
the assistance of Sears, Roebuck and Company which provided some of the historical
information. The Tower models have generally received less detailed reviews,
thus leading to a lack of information on the extent and nature of the variations.
As a final note, if you desire additional information on the history, production,
distribution and specifications of the pre-1959 Asahi equipment, I have prepared
a small guide for collectors. You can find more information about the guide on
this homepage. Text and Photographs Copyright © 1994 by Frederick C. Sherfy.
