Greetings,

As part of a lot of miscellenous camera stuff I bought at auction (no, not at Sotheby's - can I say "Sotheby's" here?) I got two nice wood 5x7 plate holders. They carry no markings except for a patent date, 4/23/07.

That returns to US Patent 851281, issued to James Charles Drake, of Rochester (Not surprising? Well, it's Rochester, Minnesota!). It covers an improved dark slide light seal system for plateholders.

Does anyone have any idea who might have made/sold these plate holders?

When I got them, both had Eastman sheet film sheaths in them (two different styles).

Thanks for any insight you might have into this.