The Johnson Photographic Year Book (the Brown/Red covered example illustrated is for 1962) was primarily a compendium of photographic information with 92 pages of text and tables. It measures some 14cm tall x 9cm. At the back are two rotary exposure calculators, one for negative materials and one for reversal.

These Year Books had covers in various colours depending upon the year e.g. in 1953, 1958, 1963 & 1965 it was blue, in 1957 & 1961 it was Green, in 1959 it was dark red while in 1960 it was Grey. At that time it was priced at 6/6d (32.5p). In 1964 it was red still priced at 6/6d.

But there is an interesting story attached to these Year Books. They originated with Burroughs Wellcome & Co.

In 1878 Henry Wellcome went into partnership with his fellow American Silas M Burroughs to set up a pharmaceutical business in London. In 1880 they founded the business of Burroughs Wellcome & Co.

The Wellcome Production Centre at Dartford started as its manufacturing site in 1889. The company produced a wide range of compressed pharmaceutical products bearing their distinctive unicorn trade mark. Many were sold under the brand name 'Tabloid', a word invented by Henry Wellcome from tablet plus the ending -oid that meant "having the form or likeness of". 'Tabloid' was registered as a trademark in 1884.

As well as medicines, the 'Tabloid' brand name was applied to other products including photographic chemicals. The monochrome advertisement and unicorn logo, left, were taken from a 1930 edition of Amateur Photographer.

This is a pack of 22 'Tabloid' tablets of Potassium Ferricyanide, (each 2grains = 0.13gm) by Boroughs Wellcome & Co London (The Wellcome Foundation) for making 'Farmers Reducer', for "reducing and clearing over-dense and foggy negatives".

The directions are to dissolve one 'Tabloid' in two ounces of ordinary hypo solution (i.e. sodium thiosulphate = 'fixer' solution). If slight reduction is required, dilute with more hypo solution. This pack was sold by Nottingham Co-operative Society, Parliament St where Mr R.H.Evans, MPS, was Superintendent.

An October 1945 advert in Amateur Photographer magazine gives four reasons why members of His Majesty's armed forces prefer 'Tabloid' products.

• Compactness,
• Convenience,
• Reliability,
• Economy.

"Include a supply in your next parcel to your photographic friend in the Forces".

Tabloid Chromium Intensifier.
Dissolve each tablet in 2fl.oz water. Immerse plate until image is bleached to a buff colour. Wash away yellow stain and re-develop.

Marked price 25 tablets 1/- (5p)

Burroughs Wellcome & Co. 'Tabloid' Metol-Quinol Developer, "an ideal all-round developer for plates, films, bromide or gaslight papers and lantern slides. Recommended also for stand, tank or machine development."

Directions:
Normal Developer for Negatives and Bromide Papers: - Dissolve one 'Tabloid' Metol-Quinol in each 2 ounces of water and add one 'Tabloid' Metol-Quinol Accelerator.

Time & Tank Development. Normal times for development at 60F.
a) ONE PAIR of products in 2 ounces of water; 3 minutes
b) ONE PAIR of products in 4 ounces of water; 4¼ minutes
c) ONE PAIR of products in 6 ounces of water; 5½ minutes

Factorial Development: Multiply the time which elapses between application of developer and first visible signs of an image by one of the factors:
For SOFT negatives: 10; For NORMAL negatives: 12; For STRONG negatives: 15

A problem arose in the early 20th Century when the term 'tabloid' was first used to describe a shortened form of journalism "with an emphasis on short stories simply told, on sport and human interest topics, and with the innovation of a women's page". In 1903, Burroughs Wellcome sued Thompson and Capper, a Manchester firm, for using the trademarked word 'tabloid' without permission. In their defence, Thompson and Capper pointed out that 'tabloid' was by then widely used and argued Burroughs Wellcome had lost all rights to the term and that they were attempting to prevent the proper development of the English language.

Burroughs Wellcome won the case; but the judge agreed the word had acquired a secondary meaning though stated that this didn't interfere with the firm's trademark rights.

Within the following text some information has come by e-mail from Richard W Holzman in Michigan, USA. Richard is a collector of information on 'all manner of exposure meters and calculators, 1839-1960'. I'm grateful to Richard for letting me use his information and I acknowledge this by a (RH) alongside certain statements.

(RH) Burroughs Wellcome & Co sold a book called Wellcome’s Photographic Diary and Exposure Record from the start of the 20th century (maybe before ?). The British Library holds a copy dated 1900. From 1901 to 1910 or 1911 it was entitled The Wellcome's Photographic Exposure Record and Diary whereafter (until 1921) it changed its name to The Wellcome Photographic Exposure Record and Diary i.e Wellcome's became Wellcome. Finally (in its original 3-fold form) from 1922 to 1941 it was named The Wellcome Exposure Calculator, Handbook and Diary.

A 1907 copy was sold on UK e-bay, November 2004, for £11.05p, with the vendor saying "measuring 14x9 cms when closed and containing a diary, pencil, a pouch for storing exposure papers and a Wellcome's exposure calculator. Full of lots of useful photographic information and adverts, for the world-wide photographer. In excellent order, but has been used with some notes made etc."

Another UK 1907 version "unused in good clean condition with original pencil and exposure calculator" was sold in November 2005 for £20.

In 1924, Burroughs Wellcome & Co. became The Wellcome Foundation Ltd.

In 1937 the diary cost 1/6d (7.5p) and I believe it was that price from at least the mid-1920s. New information within the 1937 edition included information for processing Dufaycolor by means of 'Tabloid' products.

The 1937 diary shown middle left belonged to Mr Cullingford of Bexley Heath, Kent.

Information from the vendor (Brian Wilkinson) is that Mr Cullingford died in the 1990s. Entries in his diary relate to trips around Kent and East Sussex using a Super Ikonta. He later bought an Agfa Karat to 'move into colour ' in 1939.

The format until post-WW2 was a little unusual for a diary, having a triple fold hard cover, closing via a press stud. The covers in the UK (but see below) were green fabric. The one shown to the immediate left is from 1923.

Richard Holzman in the USA has a 1907 edition but his has red covers. He also has 1912 and 1939 editions with red covers.

Richard's 1907 edition came with a Sales Sheet (see right) within the 'pocket' of the diary which states that the 'Wellcome' diary was made in 3 editions;

(i) 'US edition',
(ii) 'Southern Hemisphere and Tropical edition'
(iii) 'Northern Hemisphere edition', for Canada, Europe and all countries north of the Tropic of Cancer, except United States of America.

These pictures taken from the Australian ebay site show a 1937 edition of the Wellcome Photographic Exposure Calculator Handbook and Diary.

They show that the Southern Hemisphere and Tropics edition had a pale blue cover (RH). For more close up scans of a 1941 Australia & Tropics edition, courtesy of Richard Holzman, click here.

From 1942, because of 'Paper Control' restrictions brought on because of World War 2, 'Wellcome' suspended publication of The 'Wellcome' Photographic Exposure Calculator, Handbook & Diary, but "to meet the requests of many photographers ... yet another Emergency Edition of the 'Wellcome' Photographic Exposure Guide has been found necessary".

The 1946 emergency edition of the 'Wellcome' Photographic Exposure Guide (shown left) was complete with Exposure Calculator and instructions, including an illustrated guide to the calculator's subject descriptions. There is also a table of speed classifications for all negative materials available at the date.

By 1947 the full 100 page diary was again on sale, but now in a more orthodox book form and entitled 'Wellcome' Photographic Year Book.

During the 1940s Wellcome seem to have temporarily stagnated and in 1949, possibly in search of new focus, Borroughs Wellcome & Co (The Wellcome Foundation Ltd) arranged that Johnsons of Hendon Ltd became sole distributors of their novel 'Tabloid' brand photographic products. Manufacture was still carried out by Burroughs Wellcome & Co; only the packaging was carried out at Hendon.

In 1949 Johnsons were also given publication & selling rights for the 'Wellcome' Photographic Year Book. For the detailed announcement, as appeared in the BJPA of 1949, click here (RH)

The 1947 and 1949 copies (at least) had two rotary calculators at the rear, one being the usual 'Wellcome' Exposure Calculator for Daylight and Artificial Light, the other being a 'Wellcome' Depth of Field Calculator.

In 1949 the title became the Johnson 'Wellcome' Photographic Year Book. For two or three years it bore both the Johnsons 'Scales' trade mark as well as the Wellcome 'Unicorn', as the version shown to the left. It contained 100 pages of useful information, a diary for the year, space for recording exposures and a 'speedy and accurate exposure calculator'. It cost 5/- (25p).

Around 1950 the Tabloid range included 'Rytol', Fine Grain, M-Q and Amidol developers, plus Chromium Intensifier, Ammonium Persulphate Reducer, Potassium Bromide, Potassium Ferricyanide and Wetting Agent.

After 1951, Johnsons must have been allowed to remove the 'Wellcome' name from the title and rename the book The Johnson Photographic Year Book.

Its possible two versions of the diary were published in 1951, one bearing the 'Wellcome' name and one (a later edition?) without. To the left is an Amateur Photographer advert from the 31st Jan 1951 issue, but in a Johnsons advert in the 1952 BJPAlmanac the same 1951 diary is shown without naming 'Wellcome'. Meanwhile, an entry in 'Photography' magazine for December 1951 provides the information that 1952 "is the first year that the name Wellcome has not been included in the title." Hence, although there is some doubt about 1951, from 1952 it is known for certain the title was The Johnson Photographic Year Book.

From 1953 Johnsons made the diary and exposure record pages a soft covered insert to the main hard-back covered Year Book of photographic information. This soft covered insert was held within the hard covers by means of a cardboard 'strap' on the inside of the Year Book's hard backed front cover. (RH) reports that The Johnson Photographic Year Book for 1953 (with a single exposure calculator) has an entry in the preface stating that this separable format was to reduce Purchase Tax. However, it is believed that the two 'halves' were never actually sold separate from each other. The 2-part arrangement seems to have persisted throughout the publication life of the Year Book.

In 1951 Johnsons introduced a companion volume to 'The Johnson Photographic Year Book'.

This was 'The Johnson Photocopœia', "containing over 200 pages of invaluable references both for the beginner and advanced photographer. Contains useful processing data, a glossary of photographic chemicals and time / temperature tables for all films and plates."

"Tastefully bound in red leather cloth with gold-blocked lettering."

Production of a Johnson Year Book survived until around 1969 (RH).

Johnsons seem to have phased out the 'Wellcome' Tabloid products in the 1960s, possibly seeing their own 'Pactum' range (small, individual packs of powder chemicals) as filling the same market niche.

Starting in the 1950s, the fortunes of 'The Wellcome Foundation' were transformed with the introduction of a number of important pharmaceutical products which did much to improve the quality of life by preventing or treating some of the world's most unpleasant diseases. Glaxo Wellcome was formed in 1995 and at the end of the 20th Century was the largest pharmaceutical company in the world.

Sir Henry Wellcome died at the age of 82 on July 25th 1936.