Calumet is done for good

[Tin Can]

Done for good? Too bad! My first orders were in '71 and I still have the Jan '85 Calumet catalog just for laughs. I loved 'em and hated to hear of their demise. On the other hand, over 30 years B&H gradually evolved into not being jerks. I guess the market answers the need.

That made me laugh. B&H when they were phone only, were huge jerks.

They insisted you order loudly and quickly, as if you were ordering a Chicago Hot Dog!

I think the phone guys were on commission and the rumor I heard is they never shipped asap so they could float your money for a few days. Remember the 80's were very high interest rates.

LOL

[Fred L]

...When the new Zone VI catalog arrived in the mail I would read every word in it ...

So it wasn't just me !! lol

[mdarnton]

That made me laugh. B&H when they were phone only, were huge jerks.

They insisted you order loudly and quickly, as if you were ordering a Chicago Hot Dog!

I think the phone guys were on commission and the rumor I heard is they never shipped asap so they could float your money for a few days. Remember the 80's were very high interest rates.

LOL

My phone experiences with NYC shops made me a devoted shop-local person. I would rather pay extra to avoid giving money to people I don't like. I wonder if the extra bucks they squeezed out was worth the customers they lost. Unfortunately, those days--your local camera store--are mostly gone, except that I always check my local store--Central Camera--first.

[Drew Wiley]

That NYC thing just takes getting used to. Two different salesmen originally from there would sometimes meet in the hallway and start shouting, Ya doity joik
slimeball...etc. Everyone thought a fistfight was about to break out. Later I found out they were best friends and this is just how such people say "good morning" to each other. B&H has legitimately earned my trust and has been a very reliable supplier, so I really don't care about any potential subcultural peculiarities, which is no doubt how they view certain people elsewhere themselves. But within reason, I do try to support local suppliers as often as possible. I'd rather pay a bit extra to give them an incentive to keep my favorite film and darkroom products on the shelf for the convenience of picking it up ASAP. There are a few things like 8x10 film that I routinely need to find elsewhere, or in other cases, where they are willing to special order things and sell them at even better prices than the big houses. And knowing who your dealing with, face to face, always has its advantages, and often leads to long-term friendships.

[Tin Can]

That NYC thing just takes getting used to. Two different salesmen originally from there would sometimes meet in the hallway and start shouting, Ya doity joik
slimeball...etc. Everyone thought a fistfight was about to break out. Later I found out they were best friends and this is just how such people say "good morning" to each other. B&H has legitimately earned my trust and has been a very reliable supplier, so I really don't care about any potential subcultural peculiarities, which is no doubt how they view certain people elsewhere themselves. But within reason, I do try to support local suppliers as often as possible. I'd rather pay a bit extra to give them an incentive to keep my favorite film and darkroom products on the shelf for the convenience of picking it up ASAP. There are a few things like 8x10 film that I routinely need to find elsewhere, or in other cases, where they are willing to special order things and sell them at even better prices than the big houses. And knowing who your dealing with, face to face, always has its advantages, and often leads to long-term friendships.

We get a lot of escape from NYC people here in Chicago. We have to be patient and train them to be human.

Not kidding, some make it and some don't.

A NYC guy who HAD to leave his home state, we welcomed him, gave him a job and worked with him for 10 years on his anger. He was dangerous.

He recently left his wife and young child by overdose.

He is mourned and I miss him. His road was chosen.

Chicagoan's can have a tough attitude and way of talking, but we still welcome everybody. We look people in the eyes on the street and if you glance away like NYC, you are suspect.

Still going to Central Camera Saturday and I will find something I need. The owner Don, will probably give me a cookie or two. They are delicious.

[Harold_4074]

Sigh.

Literally yesterday I used the Calumet CC400 that I bought in the spring of 1968, home from freshman year at college. I mailed them a letter and a check to cover the camera, lens, four holders and postage, but they mailed back a credit slip instead of the excess postage. When I wrote to ask what I was supposed to do with the credit, they said that they had opened a store account for me to make future purchases easier! (I even remember an address---Touhy Avenue in Elk Grove Village. I wonder what that looks like now?)

And yesterday I was also using possibly the last thing I ever ordered from Calumet---a 250mm Imagon bought new in about 2001, for which they had to dig around to find the instruction sheet before they could mail it. I should have seen the end coming even then...

(I do wish that I had that 1967 catalog, although the ones from the 1970s are pretty cool too.)

[Louis Pacilla]

Sigh.



(I do wish that I had that 1967 catalog, although the ones from the 1970s are pretty cool too.)

Hey Harold
You may well know this but just in case ....It's not the 1967 Calumet catalog but at least you can browse the 1965 Calumet catalog here.http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/calumet_1.html It may not be 'in your hands' but at least you don't have to worry about the pages getting soggy from the tears.

[Two23]

I still have a camera store (2 locations) in my small city. They are doing well but mostly print off digital images, sell frames, and Canon, Nikon, Tamron. I go to Chicago once a year for a photography convention and always go to CCC. I have a lot of fun there! One year, I went to the counter by the 35mm film and the clerk asked what I needed. I told him I needed a memory card for a camera my dad had given me. I wasn't sure what kind because I couldn't find the slot for it. I then pulled my Leica IIIc out of my little red camera bag. He said they would trade me a new digital camera for it if I wanted.


Kent in SD

[Kodachrome25]

Still going to Central Camera Saturday and I will find something I need. The owner Don, will probably give me a cookie or two. They are delicious.

I have jobs to shoot in Chicago in March and April, I'll have to check them out.

[Old_Dick]

I wonder what happens to their intellectual/video property, like Fred Picker's DVD. Who owns it now?