Who invented the Kodak Brownie camera for Eastman Kodak?

Frank A. Brownell invented the Kodak Brownie camera for Eastman Kodak.

Brownell designed the original Brownie, a simple cardboard box camera first released in February 1900. Eastman Kodak marketed it as an inexpensive, easy-to-use camera, helping move snapshot photography beyond professional studios and wealthy enthusiasts. The first model used roll film and sold in the United States for one dollar.

The camera’s name came from the popular Brownie characters created by Canadian writer Palmer Cox, not from the dessert or the folkloric household spirit. Kodak initially aimed the product partly at children, but its simplicity and low price made it popular with a much wider audience. More than 150,000 were shipped during the first year.

The No. 2 Brownie followed in 1901 for two dollars and produced larger photographs. The Brownie line continued through many models and formats until 1986. George Eastman led Kodak, but he was not the camera’s inventor; that distinction belongs to Brownell.