This camera is sturdy and regal, in an armchair kind of way. Manufactured by Whitehouse Products and branded Beacon, it’s accessorized with a massive flash adapter synchronized for 20 millisecond lag flash bulbs. The lens pops out of the body, unlocking the shutter to allow a photo to be taken but simultaneously blocking out a quarter of the image seen through the viewfinder. The Beacon 225 is a basic point-and-shoot. There are no knobs for aperture of shutter speed. You depress the plunger and spin the wheel (or not, if you’re into double exposures). The flash fixture slips into place and is secured by a screw on top of the body, with its flimsy plastic dish covered in a sorry excuse for a reflective surface. Mine has a broken vestige of a lightbulb wedged in, that I leave untouched (1) to keep the electronic guts dust-free, (2) so that I have something to match screw caps to if I manage to track down some General Electric Midget Flash Bulbs Nos. 5 or 11, and (3) because I hadn’t really thought of removing it until now.

Manufacturer: Whitehouse Products

Model: Two-Twenty Five

Type: Point-and-shoot pop-out camera

Date of Production: 1950-58

Place of Production: Brooklyn, NY

Lens: 70mm, fixed-focus, double meniscus

Aperture: f12.5

Focal Range: 5.5′ to infinity

Shutter: rotary, 1/50 sec

Film: 620

Picture size: 6×6 cm

Exposures Per Roll: 12

Other Features: Flash

Look at this happy girl with her 50s hair and new Beacon. It looks like she skipped Step 4 and went straight to Step 5!