Greetings All,

I have an old Graflex tripod made of aluminum tubing. It is stamped on the head mounting collar:

SPEED TRIPOD
Made in USA By
ARSCO AMERICAN, INC.
Manufactured for
Graflex, Inc.
Rochester, 8 NY
Catalog No. 8094
Also in a script writing SAFELOCK

It's an interesting light weight tripod in very good condition. It belonged to my late father and I remember him using it during the early 1960's when I was very young.

I am unable to find any information about this tripod doing searches of Graflex or Arsco American. If anyone has knowledge of these tripods or the company that produced them I would appreciate a reply.

Thank you in advance,
David


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Rebel_Shooter on 2004-08-19 17:52 ]</font>

ME TOO!

Other than they show up in catalogs in the 50s and 60s when Graflex realized that the wood Crown tripods were no longer selling, I have found very little as well.

Thanks for the reply Les.
It is a neat and very usable tripod and I like the one handle for adjusting vertical or panning quick and easy. Also very durable and steady.
I just wonder if most were thrown out since they do not have all the bells and whistles like the newer ones. It would be interesting to know if many have survived over the years.
Peace,
David

A very late entry into this post. I have a pale anodised green/blue version that I got on the 'bay. Possibly the most beautiful tripod I've ever seen! Cheers, Bruce

Noted photographer and inventor Torkel Korling received US Patent #2323473 in 1943 for a tripod made from metal tubing. This looks somewhat like a Tiltall, but of course predates it.

Korling assigned his patent to the Folmer Graflex company, so I would assume they put something like this on the market and paid him a royalty.

You can easily view the patent and drawings using Google Patent Search.