Ford’s tom Thumb Detective Camera

Max Juruick

Jersey City, New Jersey

ca. 1889

ex-collection Peter Coeln

Ford’s Tom Thumb Detective Camera was designed by James H. Ford and manufactured by Max Juruick in Jersey City, NJ. The camera took 2 1/2 inch square images that were sharp beyond eight feet. The camera was stamp constructed from thin metal and plated with nickel. It came with a Gray Periscope lens mounted on a globular front, similar to those used on other concealed detective cameras of that era like the Photosphere. It housed a hemispherical rotating shutter and an adjusting thumb screw. The camera came in a black walnut detective box with a hinged cover and a lovely paper label. It held three plates and measured approximately five inches long by four wide and six deep.