The 25^th Anniversary issue of Hasselblad House Magazine, Volume 3, 1974, features an article by Ostend B. Wejerfelt (below) about bringing the Hasselblad to market in New York City. The official product launch took place on October 6, 1948, with Victor Hasselblad and the head of Willoughby’s presenting the model 500C to members of the press at the New York Athletic Club.

After the introduction of the Hasselblad camera by Dr. Victor Hasselblad in the latter part of 1948, the organization to market and service the product in USA was planned to start in the early part of 1949. By that time USA was reverting well to civilian commodities after the war. Europe, in most places, was still trying to recover from the extensive damage caused by World War II. It was the same also for the countries in Asia.

With the large U.S. market before us we were very optimistic about the possibilities of marketing the Hasselblad camera but we had very little knowledge about the many problems which every manufacturer seems to have with new products….

To be young and to have the opportunity of coming to the New World with a new product when people again were ready to think of industrial expansion and better living conditions was a tremendous challenge. The feeling of being alone and nervous in such a metropolis as Manhattan was at that time a great experience for any ambitious young mane entering the market.

An “office” was established at our USA distributor, Willoughby’s Camera Store Inc., New York and the first Hasselblad delivery took place. That “office” of ours was just a corner in a stock room—a place really to hang coats and hats. After the first Hasselblad camera was in the hands of a customer, it was only a few hours later before it was back again with some mechanical problem.

When the factory began to deliver more and more cameras to the U.S. market another approach had to be tried when merchandise was frequently returned because the camera “did not work.” Most of the cameras returned were without fault, but in the first place nobody seemed to have read the instruction book, and secondly most of the photo dealers and their personnel had never seen the Hasselblad camera, so there was no one to tell the customer that he had to remove the dark slide before he could make an exposure! There was continuous training of personnel at the distributor, because small but necessary changes were made in the cameras, from shipment to shipment, and it was a pleasure to see that quality was steadily improved over the years….

It was the intention of the factory that I should stay temporarily in USA for about three months to help the distributor organize the marketing and service of the product, but because of all the different problems that arose, the temporary stay was increased many times by further three-month periods. In the end I was “temporarily” stationed in New York for almost 10 years before being ordered to return to the home office.

I recall many a meeting with professional photographers who were very impressed with the idea and design of the Hasselblad camera system—photographers who were as frustrated as I was myself when the camera failed to perform. I think that this big group of people also helped in many ways through the first difficult year.

When I look back today on that first year in the USA there are definitely no regrets. It was a splendid time to establish a great product and it was a pleasure to meet so many kind and interesting people. Our friendship has been maintained and strengthened by yearly contacts through letters or visits.

Note: This is the first in a series of articles based on features in the Hasselblad House Magazine from the 1970s.