The Internationale Camera Actiengesellschaft (ICA) from Dresden was founded in 1909 by merging four existing camera manufacturers: Hüttig AG, Kamerawerk Dr. Krügener, Wünsche AG and Carl Zeiss Palmos AG. An attempt to involve Ernemann in the merger failed and this company would become a major competitor for ICA.
ICA’s trademark was a pentagram, which was adopted in a slightly modified way from Hüttig AG. The company offered a wide range of cameras and accessories. Before the First World War it had the largest camera factory in Europe. In 1926, ICA formed with Ernemann, Goerz and Contessa-Nettel the new Zeiss Ikon company.
ICA adopted the new stereo glass formats 45x107mm and 6x13cm that were introduced by Jules Richard in France. The success of glass stereophotography was more modest in Germany than in France, but ICA released a series of stereo cameras and stereoscopes that were later continued by Zeiss Ikon.
ICA postcards
The promotional postcards are a series of beautiful coloured cards of people with their camera. There were German and English versions of the cards. Some of the images were also used by ICA on the covers of their catalogs. The postcards were designed by the Austrian illustrator Theo Matejko (1893-1946). He was a well-known artist and involved in the design work for the posters of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. The cards contain his signature and the year 1925[2].
References
- Gubas, Lawrence J. Zeiss and Photography, 2015
- Theo Matejko – via: en.wikipedia.org
See also: blogposts about ICA