This is the "Kodak Bantam F.8"; it is from the series of "Bantam" folding pocket sized cameras produced by Kodak from 1935 to 1953. This particular model the "F.8" was produced in 1938, and was one of many cameras designed by the industrial engineer Walter Dorwin Teaque.
An interesting thing to note is that although would be classified as a "folding camera", unlike typical folding cameras it does not feature collapsible bellows. While majority of Kodak's Bantam cameras were "strut" folders; the "F.8" model instead has a rectangular retractable lensboard. This camera would have originally used the 828 roll film format, which is essentially 35mm film on a paper-backed roll; as apposed to being housed in a canister and only having one perforation per frame. The smaller size of 828 allowed Kodak to produce a much more compact camera design. However, the 828 itself would never become one of the mainstream film formats, this was due primarily to the fact that 828 cameras themselves were marketed towards the ultra low-end of the consumer market. 828 was discontinued by Kodak in 1985.
This is a fairly simple folding pocket "point-and-shoot" camera from that era, with the chassis made out of moulded black bakelite. There is no focus, aperture or shutter speed control; the only user controls are the shutter leaver and the advance wheel. This camera would have been designed to have been very discrete (roughly the side of a pack of cigarettes when folded). The shutter leaver is located on the very front of the camera; the shutter will not fire when the lensboard is retracted. The "F.8" in the cameras model name refers to the fixed "f/8" aperture setting.
I acquired this camera from a local yard sale as part of a bundle deal. This also included a "Kodak Baby Brownie”, a “Kodak Baby Brownie Special”, a pack of old GE flashbulbs, and a few rolls of old 35mm, 127 and 828 film which expired in the early 1950s; along with some other small odds and ends for $10.00.
