TASOPE, a small company located in Aurora, MO, got its start—and name—by building small photo engraving plants for small newspapers throughout the nation during the 1930s. Much like the fictional character Howard Hill of "The Music Man" who had to create a "boys band" before he could sell instruments to the parents of River City, Iowa, TASOPE realized that they had to teach their newspaper customers how to take professional pictures so they would have images to engrave on TASOPE equipment. Clifton C. Edom was the man who built their School of Photography and edited their monthly magazine. Edom went on to found the Missouri University photojournalism sequence in Columbia and has been widely recognized as one of the fathers of American Photojournalism. The MU School of Journalism is celebrating its 100th birthday this year, and I will be speaking briefly about Mr. Edom, his contribution to photojournalism, and his roots in rural newspapering at a celebration in Columbia in Mid-October. One LFPF member has written about a TASOPE process camera that he has. I would love to hear from him or anyone reading this who has TASOPE equipment, photos, literature and/or any knowledge of the company. Many thanks!
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