Prior to digital photography, photographers had the problem of taking dozens of portrait photographs for school yearbooks quickly. Cameras used before the 1920s required frequent changes of film, slowing the process, and increasing costs. A Ste. Genevieve photographer, Vincent J. Dunker, solved the problem by inventing a specialty, long-roll camera for school portrait photography.
Vincent Joseph Dunker was born December 6, 1878, in Highland in Perry County, to Henry Dunker Jr., a German immigrant, and his wife Mary R. Guyot, a French immigrant. After high school, Dunker worked as a carpenter and blacksmith, skills that would serve him well in manufacturing his inventions. Vincent Dunker’s interest in photography began in 1900, when he worked in the Perryville studio of his brother-in-law Felix Prost. Dunker opened his own studio in 1901 in Ste. Genevieve, and later completed a master’s degree at the Illinois College of Photography.
His first invention in 1924 was a 35-mm camera, which he made for himself with the intention of venturing into school photography. A photographer from St. Louis heard about it and convinced him to sell it for $100. A second camera also sold before he could use it. Dunker abandoned the idea of taking school pictures and concentrated on inventing and selling his inventions. He became the first mass-manufacturer of cameras for school photography.
Dunker invented his 70-mm camera in 1925—one of the first on the market. He obtained a patent for a hand printer for use with 250-foot rolls of paper. He continued his photography business until 1937, when he leased the studio to devote himself to building cameras and other inventions.
Dunker styled his business Ve-Ja-De Products Co., named for his initials, and eventually sold thousands of roll film school cameras. He tooled metal parts on a lathe and made the wood and Morocco leather cases, with the assistance of F. J. Callier, his chief mechanic and an expert cabinet maker. Later, his grandson Leo Pruneau assisted with the metal parts and management of the photography studio.
The 46-mm school camera he invented in 1953 gave exclusive sale rights to Bremson Photo Industries, Inc., of Kansas City, Missouri. Bremson replaced the Dunker nameplates with Bremson nameplates, but otherwise production by Dunker peaked at 300 in 1948, declining to 150 by 1958. Cameras with both nameplates survive today.
Dunker also invented a “direct paper” camera that developed and printed in five minutes. These became popular in the 1930s and 1940s and beyond at fairs and carnivals. The camera and accompanying complete booth were shipped in pieces to destinations as far away as Hong Kong.
The Dunker cameras were capable of taking 900 shots per 200 feet of film, with 70 mm cameras adjustable to take up to 1200 exposures. Uses besides school pictures included baby pictures, employee identification photos in industrial plants.
Through it all, Dunker retained his photography studio in Ste. Genevieve. Few local residents knew of Ve-Ja-De Products, but the cameras likely took the name of Ste. Genevieve into more states and countries than nearly any other product. Dunker shipped to every state, Canada, Egypt, several South American countries, and China before World War II.
Vincent built his last camera in 1961 when he was 82 years old, ending 37 years of production. Dunker died at age 96 in 1974 in Ste. Genevieve. The inventions of Vincent J. Dunker are largely of historical interest today. Digital photography has far surpassed the capabilities of his innovative long-roll cameras.
