Thanks to Paul Godfrey for sending me the above picture of the later version of the Ilford Filmstrip printer and a copy of the instruction booklet.

Paul says "This was definitely made by Kennedy Instruments (KI); it even has Ilford Advocate aluminium knobs on it". "According to Andy Holliman's book, this is a simplified version of an earlier printer introduced in 1955".
To see the earlier version, scroll down to the pictures below. BUT, thanks to Doug McKee, Andy's 1955 date is now known to be incorrect. The earlier version was actually introduced in 1950: ref. review on p236 of the BJPA for 1951 (printed 1950).

The later one that Paul owns (as pictured above) was introduced in 1956 (Andy thought 1960); it appears in Ilford's 1956 catalogue & was reviewd in the 1957 BJPA, p174 ~ thanks to Doug McKee for this information. It has a hammered paint finish, not the ivory stove enamel 'Advocate' finish of the earlier version.

Paul says "The negatives are held in contact with sensitised material by glass; for paper contact strip prints this would have been fine but for making projection quality monochrome slides, dust spots would have been a problem. There are no Ilford badges on this printer but luckily my one came with the original instruction booklet, so a non-enthusiast could identify what it is. I think it is probable that these printers are found and thrown away because the finder does not know what the item is."

Doug McKee informs me that the price shown in his 1956 catalogue is £8.10s (£8.50p) but the catalogue's addendum price list for November 1956 states £8, which is the same as in the 1957 BJPA review (which would have been published in late 1956).

Reviewed in the 1951 BJPA (hence its likely the item first appeared in 1950) and also featuring in Ilford's 1952 (and 1955) General Catalogue, Section 8-B: "Accessories for Professional Photography", is the earlier Filmstrip Printer, as shown alongside and also in the photographs below. The description reads:

ILFORD 35 mm. FILM STRIP PRINTER; Price: £12 10s. 0d in 1952 (£12.50p ~ though £12 in 1950 when first marketed).
A printer for the preparation of film strips, either by contact or by projection.
The printer holds up to 10feet of film on the feed spool, the film passing beneath a pressure platen on to the take-up spool. Correct spacing between frames is assured and to prevent damage to the negative record the film cannot be wound while in the operative position.
The design enables the sequence of frames on the negative to be altered and also sections from different negatives to be printed on the same strip.
Two masks are provided-full frame (24 x 36mm) and half-frame (18 x 24mm) - and it is possible to print two half-frames side by side in a strip which otherwise consists of full frames.

Doug McKee has sent me photographs (left and below) of this earlier 'Advocate look alike' film strip printer, as advertised above. This earlier version has an extra knob for zeroing the frame counter. This seems to be the only practical difference between this earlier version and the later, stove enamel version, shown at the top of this page.

In the picture to the left, the label hiding behind the central lever reads "Ilford". The central, forward pointing, lever has two functions: (a) it holds the front strip retaining plate closed by engaging on a small detent pin to the left of the vertical peg, and (b) is used to release the wind on mechanism.

Doug believes the method of operation is as follows:

Once a frame has been exposed the strip retaining plate has to be opened by releasing the sprung central lever from its detent pin (by easing the lever upwards) and pulling the vertical peg outwards, which clears the way for the central lever to be pushed towards the right. This internally releases the sprockets and the wind on can commence using the top knob. Once the film has started to travel the central lever can be released.

In the right hand side of the picture can be seen a curved-end rod coming from the shaft under the central lever. This rod engages with cut-outs in the round end plate of the sprocket wheel. Quite a small movement to the right, by the central lever, is all that is required to release the rod from the cut-out, allowing the wind-on sprockets to rotate.

The peg on the hinged front plate (lying horizontally in the left hand side of the picture) prevents inadvertent wind on release. The peg is securely attached to the strip retaining plate and is in fact something to hold, when opening the retaining plate.

In the picture left, the knob at bottom centre has a toothed wheel which has a sprung arm engaged with it like a ratchet, visible in the picture. The knob can be rotated to zero the dial. In use, a cam on the sprocket shaft pushes against the spring to increment the dial.

Paul Godfrey bought this Ilford metal contact-printing frame from an Ebay trader. He says:

"Andy Holliman mentions in his book that Kennedy Instruments made various accessories (including a printing frame) for Ilford, before embarking on the Advocate project just after the end of WW2. I therefore think it is possible that Kennedy made this item, but of course I cannot be sure."

The original (?) price, as can be seen on the label attached to the box lid, was 3s/8d (18p).