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10
World War II had on American industrial capability, methods, and design. Massive
government contracts were awarded to every American industry. Unheard-of sums of
government cash were dumped into military-oriented research and development. New
materials and techniques of manufacture that would never have been considered before
suddenly became popular.
As an American manufacturer of optical equipment, the Argus corporation
benefited from this economic spurt in many ways. It began to produce a variety of
optical equipment for military use, like the Argus Observation Scope, retained with
others in the Argus line of products after the war. In addition, the US Army put in an
order for 50,000 C3 cameras to sell in its Post Exchanges. The military showed its
appreciation for the Argus corporation’s contribution to the war effort by awarding the
company the Army-Navy E Award for production a total of five times.
The US emerged from World War II a manufacturing powerhouse, one of only
two superpowers, and the only country on earth with nuclear weapons. Because of these
and other factors, the patriotic American consumer became a different person as well.
Due to economic depression and wartime rationing, consumers had been restrained for
the previous fifteen years. The post-war economic boom let them know that they didn’t
have to settle for second best any more. The modern design movement, greatly
influenced by new materials and mass production techniques conceived during the war,
began to create inexpensive, stylish American products of decent quality, and the public
went mad for them. In response to the wave of nationalism that was sweeping the
country, Argus dropped the “International” in its name in 1945 and became simply Argus
Industries, Inc.
This did not bode well for the A2B, the only Argus A-type camera manufactured
at the end of the war. Designed to be affordable for Depression-era America, the A2B
didn’t offer a rangefinder or flash capability, and had only a two-position focus. The
f/4.5 lens that seemed so fast before the war was now slower than lenses available on
other cameras. In addition, the art deco styling that made the Argus so smart at its
introduction now seemed dowdy and old fashioned. With a different shutter and fluoride-
coated lenses, the A2B was retained in the Argus line as a low-end camera, suitable for
college students and amateurs.
No economic boom lasts forever, though, and the recession of 1948-49 hit all of
America hard. Argus shareholders needed a scapegoat, and in 1949, after a brief power
struggle, the shareholders brought in Robert E. Lewis to head the company. Lewis and
his boys decided to phase out every old line of cameras, including the Argus A2B, and
began to design new ones. The only camera saved from the slaughter was the popular
C3. These were the ignoble circumstances under which the Argus A2B left the company,
now again renamed Argus Cameras, Inc.
This was not the end for the Argus A-type camera, however. Possibly to fill in
the gap for a low-cost camera while other cameras were being developed, Argus
introduced the FA, which was another flash version of the A. But the FA only lasted
from 1950 to 1951. Its successor, the totally redesigned and restyled A4, arrived on
dealers’ shelves in 1953 and became the new low-cost representative of the Argus line.
The A4 was a completely new design and shared nothing but a name with its
predecessors.