The Tale of The Tiltall. GX1, Leitz Elmarit 90mm.

Today's Blip is a tip of the hat to hardworking immigrants. Italo Marchioni came to the U.S. at the end of the 19th century and before his career was over had invented and patented the ice cream cone! This is a story in itself. His two sons, Caesar and Mark combined their interests and talents in photography and industrial design to invent a photographic tripod head that could be adjusted to any angle. Their endeavor survived on a shoestring through the Great Depression and WW2. Then, when the war ended they began using surplus aircraft-grade aluminum to produce their wonderful tripods. The business continued until 1973 when the brothers wanted to retire. At this point they were approached by the U.S. subsidiary of the famous German optical company, Ernst Leitz of Wetzlar, to buy the rights to produce the Tiltall tripod. The tooling and know-how from the Marchioni brothers was moved to Leitz's facility in Rockleigh, NJ and production began. A more detailed account of the Marchioni family's achievements can be found here: http://tiltallsupport.blogspot.com/2009/10/tiltall-preface-brief-history.html
The Blip shows the brass manufacturer's plate with engraved lettering filled with blue paint and riveted to the tripod's collar. The tripod itself, Model 4602 is a work of art in black anodized aluminum, solid as a rock and extendible to a height of nearly six feet. I first encountered a Tiltall back in 1986 when I was apprenticing to be a harpsichord maker. The shop owner used his one when he photographed new instruments. It took me until 2012 to find an example in good condition for a reasonable price. Yes, there are cheaper knock-offs, but there is only one Tiltall that shows the pride and ingenuity of the Marchionis.