Ford’s tom Thumb Detective Camera

Max Juruick

Jersey City, New Jersey

ca. 1889

Ford’s Tom Thumb Detective Camera was designed by James H. Ford and manufactured by Max Juruick in Jersey City, NJ. The camera took 2 1/2 inch square images that were sharp beyond eight feet. The camera was stamp constructed from thin metal and plated with nickel. It came with a Gray Periscope lens mounted on a globular front, similar to those used on other concealed detective cameras of that era like the Photosphere. It housed a hemispherical rotating shutter and an adjusting thumb screw. The camera came in a black walnut detective box with a hinged cover and a lovely paper label. It held three plates and measured approximately five inches long by four wide and six deep.