This is a great set. Both the camera and the tripod head have "Patents Applied For" engraved on them. They are so early they were manufactured before the patents were approved, around 1914. This set is such a unique rarity that I'm sure a Universal camera outfit like this won't be available to any one ever again. Universals were vary popular as field cameras and thus showed their use and abuse quickly. Now, nearly a hundred years later, I imagine this has to be the highest quality Universal camera set left in private hands.

This is a museum quality Universal Camera made in Chicago Illinois around 1914. It is a very early Universal as it says "PATS. APPLIED FOR" on the name tag. It has two sets of numbers inside the camera. One which I'm sure represents the manufacturing date. I just don't know their number code. Many cameras used a number code to say what year a camera was manufactured and what number the camera was during that specific year of manufacture. Thus a camera with a serial number of 1456 would be a camera that was the 56th camera made during 1914.