Leroimystic
Leroimystic
Is this parlor trick a suitable item for the serious photographica collector? Sure it is. If collecting can't be fun, then why bother?
The day I bought this mystical image eraser I'd driven over 500 miles looking for serious collectibles. I had no choice but to buy it. This was all I could find. I could either laugh or cry. I chuckled. After that much driving and searching I was ready to buy anything.
Leroimystic Label
Leroimystic turns your photographs invisible. I've taken quite a few photographs that are well suited for this treatment.
You rub this poison on your print. Wash under running water for 30 minutes and let the print dry. The image disappears. The small blue container contains a white powder that is used to make the image reappear. Wet your finger, put it in the white powder and wipe a small bit of paste on the print margin, outside the image area. When you are ready to amaze friends and family lick your finger and brush the invisible goo over the print. Voila! The image reappears!
And they said daguerreotypists suffered health problems from breathing mercury fumes. After giving a few performances with this stuff I would recommend a visit to the family doctor.
The box label tells us this is lots of fun, and a money maker. I'll need to give that some thought.
April, 1934 Popular Mechanics Leroimystic Ad
Central Camera Company of Chicago advertised Leroimystic for sale in national magazines during 1934.
Interestingly, this chemical parlor trick was most likely develped by Adrian LeRoy, or perhaps the "LeRoy brothers", creators of Lerochrome tri-color cameras. As a collector of early color cameras, images and equipment, I have a variety of Lerochrome and National Photocolor cameras in my collection. National Photocolor Corporation, which was wholly owned by Haskins Laboratories, purchased International Photographic Research Laboratories, makers of Lerochrome cameras. The company name International Research Laboratories, without "Photographic" also appeared in Lerochrome advertisements. The business address under both company names was 228 7th Ave New York City, NY.
November, 1938 Popular Science Lerochrome Ad
Adrian LeRoy is mentioned as the developer of the Lerochrome line of cameras in an oral history of Haskins Laboratories, and in the advertisement above. The oral history reveals snippets of information on Adrian LeRoy and his business. An article appeared in the January, 1940 issue of Minicam magazine that described the state of the art in color photography with one-shot three-color cameras. The author mentioned that Lerochrome cameras were developed by the Leroys, chief chemists for International Research Laboratory.
The question on the table is - did the LeRoy brothers create Leroimystic? I think so. The Leroimystic business address was given as Chicago, Illinois; the company name was International Research Laboratory. Ads for Leroimystic appeared in 1934. Lerochrome cameras were introduced about 4 years later, ca 1938, sufficient time to relocate from Chicago to New York.
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Page created August 20, 2002; updated December 20, 2020
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