[W&B] What is it: Long ceramic tubes, marked Gennert Dark Room Equipment

[Rob McElroy]

Dan,

Mark is correct, as is your guess.  The stoneware tanks were used for 
processing or stock chemical solution storage.  Several companies made 
for the photographic industry, and they were popular in the 1920's - 
40's, at which time stainless steel took over.  These glazed stoneware 
tanks were impervious to almost all chemicals and acids, and unless 
broken by physical damage, they will essentially last forever.  If they 
were to be used for the developer, they were often placed inside of 
another metal-lined wooden tank which provided a water jacket to keep 
the developer's temperature consistent.

Boy, how times have changed.  I can remember processing 48"-wide mural 
prints by-hand in five-foot developing troughs in the 1970's, and 
hanging them with clothespins on a taught rope to dry.  It seems too 
much of the fun has been leaving photography since digitalization was 
invented.  Progress can be a lot less fulfilling at times.

I still love the smell of fixer in the morning.  And I still use it for 
fixing and gilding my daguerreotypes.

Cheers,
Rob McElroy
Buffalo, NY


Mark Baltor wrote:
> *Yes, possibly for hypo. They are pottery, very thick and VERY heavy. 
> Some years ago I abandoned a set rather than move them. I'd bought the 
> entire contents of a photo studio, but left those for the trash 
> collector. *
> *Mark Baltor*
>
>     ----- Original Message -----
>     *From:* DColucci at aol.com <mailto:DColucci at aol.com>
>     *To:* woodandbrass at kjsl.com <mailto:woodandbrass at kjsl.com>
>     *Sent:* Saturday, January 27, 2007 2:06 PM
>     *Subject:* [W&B] What is it: Long ceramic tubes,marked Gennert
>     Dark Room Equipment
>
>      
>     who knows what these are ? Chemical storage tanks ?
>      
>