World War II had on American industrial capability, methods, and design. Massive government contracts were awarded to every American industry. Unheard-of sums of government cash were dumped into military-oriented research and development. New materials and techniques of manufacture that would never have been considered before suddenly became popular.
As an American manufacturer of optical equipment, the Argus corporation benefited from this economic spurt in many ways. It began to produce a variety of optical equipment for military use, like the Argus Observation Scope, retained with others in the Argus line of products after the war. In addition, the US Army put in an order for 50,000 C3 cameras to sell in its Post Exchanges. The military showed its appreciation for the Argus corporation’s contribution to the war effort by awarding the company the Army-Navy E Award for production a total of five times.
The US emerged from World War II a manufacturing powerhouse, one of only two superpowers, and the only country on earth with nuclear weapons. Because of these and other factors, the patriotic American consumer became a different person as well. Due to economic depression and wartime rationing, consumers had been restrained for the previous fifteen years. The post-war economic boom let them know that they didn’t have to settle for second best any more. The modern design movement, greatly influenced by new materials and mass production techniques conceived during the war, began to create inexpensive, stylish American products of decent quality, and the public went mad for them. In response to the wave of nationalism that was sweeping the country, Argus dropped the “International” in its name in 1945 and became simply Argus Industries, Inc.
This did not bode well for the A2B, the only Argus A-type camera manufactured at the end of the war. Designed to be affordable for Depression-era America, the A2B didn’t offer a rangefinder or flash capability, and had only a two-position focus. The f/4.5 lens that seemed so fast before the war was now slower than lenses available on other cameras. In addition, the art deco styling that made the Argus so smart at its introduction now seemed dowdy and old fashioned. With a different shutter and fluoride- coated lenses, the A2B was retained in the Argus line as a low-end camera, suitable for college students and amateurs.
No economic boom lasts forever, though, and the recession of 1948-49 hit all of America hard. Argus shareholders needed a scapegoat, and in 1949, after a brief power struggle, the shareholders brought in Robert E. Lewis to head the company. Lewis and his boys decided to phase out every old line of cameras, including the Argus A2B, and began to design new ones. The only camera saved from the slaughter was the popular C3. These were the ignoble circumstances under which the Argus A2B left the company, now again renamed Argus Cameras, Inc.
This was not the end for the Argus A-type camera, however. Possibly to fill in the gap for a low-cost camera while other cameras were being developed, Argus introduced the FA, which was another flash version of the A. But the FA only lasted from 1950 to 1951. Its successor, the totally redesigned and restyled A4, arrived on dealers’ shelves in 1953 and became the new low-cost representative of the Argus line. The A4 was a completely new design and shared nothing but a name with its predecessors.
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