I bought a used equipment case. It is very old.

[Phil Rhodes]

How old do we think?

Telex? Cable?

[Mark Dunn]

If you don't know them, Sammy's were the only show in town for years, Panavision agents, finally sold out to Joe Dunton, I think.

Even my 1980 catalogue only has the Telex number- I think they just got a lot more phone lines instead, there are dozens in it, including, rather sweetly, the directors' home numbers. But that case will survive the Second Coming.

Edited September 19, 2022 by Mark Dunn

[Phil Rhodes]

It was all a bit before my time, but I know the name. That address on Cricklewood Lane is now one of the halls of residence for Middlesex University, a building which itself doesn't look like it was built that recently, so I guess the company has been gone for decades.

This thing has a few unoccupied holes in it, which suggests it's seen a few different uses over the years. There were a few scraps of foam suggesting it had been used to store a set of substantially flat objects that could be held in slots. It's odd, because the handle is on what feels like the side, and the feet are on what therefore feels like the back. I'm going to put a camera in it which I'd rather not roll on its side to move around, and I'm pondering relocating the handle to the lid, but I guess then the whole thing is dependent on the drawbar latches to avoid falling open while being carried.

I am currently attacking the tape goo with various harsh solvents. Could it be forty years' worth?

[Dom Jaeger]

I started at Sammy's in Sydney in the 90s, by the 2000s they had been bought by Panavision.

Here's a Samuelson catalogue from 1984, with the same address and telex etc:

http://www.samuelsonfilmservice.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/SFS-1984-Catalogue.pdf

But they had been at Cricklewood Lane since the 60s:

http://www.aoassocies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/the-samuelson-story.pdf

 

 

[Phil Rhodes]

8 hours ago, Dom Jaeger said:

Here's a Samuelson catalogue from 1984, with the same address and telex etc:

http://www.samuelsonfilmservice.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/SFS-1984-Catalogue.pdf

Welp, the case I have here uses exactly the same style of handle shown in the promotional photograph in that catalogue, so I'm guessing 80s. This one is 24x12x12.5 inches, which pretty much makes it a natural camera case.

"Rigidised aluminium," eh?

Thanks!

[Mark Dunn]

10 hours ago, Phil Rhodes said:

That address on Cricklewood Lane

.........was developed as a small studio complex by Sammys in 1979 and replaced, apparently, by a Virgin gym in 2000.

http://www.samuelsonfilmservice.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/The-Production-Village1.pdf

The 1980 catalogue I used is half catalogue and half a very handy manual of cinematography, printed the other way up with its own cover, as was the way then. And it does still have the cable address- it's just omitted from the manual. My 1985 copy still has both.

Incidentally that website is a rather good resource for gearheads. The manual I still refer to for running times, roll diameters and the like.

 

 

 

Edited September 20, 2022 by Mark Dunn

[Mark Dunn]

Maybe put the camera in the box on its side so it's right way up when carried? Cut the foam to match.

A handle on the top sounds as hairy to me as it does to you. Shame to mess with mechanics that good unless you have to.

You'll be able to sit on it. Heck, probably park on it. Leave the tape residue on, it's history. Who wants a shiny steal-me case anyway?

Edited September 20, 2022 by Mark Dunn

[Phil Rhodes]

Believe me, this thing is never, ever going to be a shiny steal me case ever again! I don't mind the old lettering but I might clean it up to the point where it isn't actively... Sticky...

It is a rather odd layout. Either orientation makes it hard to exclude the possibility of things tumbling out if the latches gave way. I notice that similar cases with the handle on top of an opening lid tend to have the big flat paddle latches, as seen on flight cases, rather than the drawbar type.

[Mark Dunn]

Not sticky, I agree with. But keep character. I am quite fond of my 35mm can with the Merchant Ivory label.

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

On 9/20/2022 at 7:28 AM, Mark Dunn said:

Maybe put the camera in the box on its side so it's right way up when carried? Cut the foam to match.

A handle on the top sounds as hairy to me as it does to you. Shame to mess with mechanics that good unless you have to.

You'll be able to sit on it. Heck, probably park on it. Leave the tape residue on, it's history. Who wants a shiny steal-me case anyway?

Textured aluminum. More rigid than smooth and you get traction if you stand on it. 

[Brian Drysdale]

My late 1970s Ronford F4 Samcine case has the telex and cables details.

The basic design concept continues due to former Samcine Case employees starting their own companies.

[Robin R Probyn]

Used to go to the Cricklewood  lane place in the 60,s ,early 70,s as a kid with my old man , Sammys used to send us a xmas hamper from Harrods back in the day !  also remember the Sydney one in Artamon ? North Ryde or somewhere like that near the ABC, in the early 80,s ..

[Phil Rhodes]

I wonder how many leases of life this is.

[Mark Dunn]

9 hours ago, Phil Rhodes said:

I wonder how many leases of life this is.

Have you decided the orientation question? As you have it there or side-opening, handle on top, feet on the ground?

[Phil Rhodes]

Trying to put the camera in sideways is an absolute nuisance, so I think what I'll likely do is put some (more) feet on what's the bottom surface in that shot, and rely on standing it up, with the handle on the front, to get at what's inside.

Weird layout. No idea why they did it like that. It's almost more like a very, very deep and oversized briefcase, and they did make those in briefcase sort of formats, so maybe that's it.

I notice a lot of similar cases use removable trays in the position that would be behind the camera in this case, making room for accessories, and I may look into doing something like that. The only problem is that you then need somewhere to put them when you take them out.

[Phil Rhodes]

So, I put my wonderful equipment case on my wonderful equipment cart, and... oh for the love of Mike.

[Mark Dunn]

Maybe a bungee cord, but.....too bad. No easy mod comes to mind.

[Eric Eader]

Hello, 

Just fabricate and bolt a slightly bigger shelf to fit the undersized shelf.

Or:

Bolt a lip to the outside rails (on two sides), just large enough to hold the case but leave the inside of the shelf available for use.

The lip looking like one arm of a swastika (from the side), with a block near the center to prevent the case from sliding and the other side just a side extension to form a slightly deeper shelf.

In 1985, on my vacation to London, I took a really long Tube and Bus ride out to Samualson's and they were very nice giving me a tour of the place. At Christmas time that year, they even sent me the thin green manual  like Mark Dunn describes. It has somehow gotten away from me, but I still have the bigger "hands on" Manual.

Agree that it is a bummer the cart shelf is short by so little.

Good luck.

 

[Gregg MacPherson]

On 10/13/2022 at 11:06 AM, Phil Rhodes said:

I think the best orientation is as seen in the photo. Just need to add a recessed handle in the top and feet for the bottom, the kind that sit just short of the corner. Not the kind that wrap around the corner.  With the case oriented as above the feet could safely locate/retain it on the cart. It's a bit top heavy when sitting on the cart like this, so I guess you won't leave it there.

Cases were also built like that but with the lid on the side, so with lower centre of mass (CoM).

Old cases can be very endearing objects. I salvaged some like this, ex US Navy/Science foundation from the dump at McMurdo, Antarctica (1981). The faces are plywood covered in vinyl.

[Brian Drysdale]

Samecine made ready to shoot cases for various film cameras. The camera  basically floated between the bottom foam and the foam in the lid, the foam was cut to the shape of the camera, so that it offered the best support and held  it in position. There were compartments in the remaining space for accessories, batteries and magazines. The foam was high density stuff, so it had a long life,

Edited January 16, 2023 by Brian Drysdale

[Mark Dunn]

10 hours ago, Eric Eader said:

Hello, 

Just fabricate and bolt a slightly bigger shelf to fit the undersized shelf.

Or:

Bolt a lip to the outside rails (on two sides), just large enough to hold the case but leave the inside of the shelf available for use.

The lip looking like one arm of a swastika (from the side), with a block near the center to prevent the case from sliding and the other side just a side extension to form a slightly deeper shelf.

In 1985, on my vacation to London, I took a really long Tube and Bus ride out to Samuelson's and they were very nice giving me a tour of the place. At Christmas time that year, they even sent me the thin green manual  like Mark Dunn describes. It has somehow gotten away from me, but I still have the bigger "hands on" Manual.

Agree that it is a bummer the cart shelf is short by so little.

Good luck.

 

I would certainly be out in the garage with that having a tinker. But I'm not sure I'd want to drill holes in anything that looked that nice and that had resale value. Most of the things I mess with are much nastier, or unseen. Maybe something would clamp on instead.

The Sammys manual disappeared after '85. The 86-7 one is just a spiral-bound catalogue. I still prefer my scruffy 1980 edition from film school with the annotations and phone numbers of long-gone labs and dubbing theatres. Sammys themselves, of course, are now gone, sold to Panavision and literally- Sydney Samuelson died last month at 97.

Edited January 16, 2023 by Mark Dunn