Vintage KODAK AD, 1949

I'm always interested in the ads Kodak ran to convince people of the importance of taking snapshots of their lives. When you look at other ads for the competition, specifically for cameras, they simply don't have the same feeling Kodak was pushing.

This ad dates from Collier's magazine, August 1949.

Click on image to see it larger.

Kodak knew how to push emotional buttons. Early on they knew how freeing a camera was for a woman and most of the very early ads featured women with cameras having fun. Then they pushed the idea of family memories. I'm not even sure what they're pushing today. I don't think I've paid attention or noticed a Kodak ad in a long time.

And let me just say, even though I really enjoy my digital cameras, I miss film. I miss the smell of the film when you opened up the bag and took out the little metal can. I still have a few of those old cans, used before they went to the plastic "cans" which were useful, but never as fun.

Things change, they say for the better. Everything is geared towards faster and easier. I guess I never found loading film into a camera to be a chore. I enjoyed threading it on the sprockets. Now I just have to make sure I turn the flash card in the right direction and never have to worry about changing it on a sunny day.

But bless Kodak for pushing the use of their product. Without it I doubt this blog would exist.

I call her POLLYANA

I have no idea who this young lady is. She could be a relative or just a friend of my maternal grandmother. The photo is approximately 1 inch square and was found in the bottom of a small box of photos that had belonged to grandma. All I can tell you, with any certainty, is that she lived in Pennsylvania, near Harrisburg. Other than that, it's anybodies guess. She will forever be nameless.

I call her Pollyana because she reminds me of the character. I know the name Pollyana is often used to describe someone too good, too cheerful. The actual character isn't anything like that, and it's a shame that trying to find the good in bad events and learning from the experience should so often be frowned on by those who consider themselves too hip and too cool.

I wish I knew something about this young lady. What became of her? How did her life turn out? It's highly possible at some point when I was a child I met her when she was a grown woman in her 60s. I'll never know.

For now she is my post for Sepia Saturday.

Between drug stores and Shutterfly there was FOTOMAT

Yes, at one point we even became too lazy to walk into a photography store or the drug store to drop off our film to get it developed. And we hadn't quite reached the laziness of simply uploading our digital images and awaiting the package in the mail. Between all of that there was Fotomat.

For anyone too young to remember Fotomat think of a drive-thru coffee place, but for photos. Little booths out in the middle of parking lots with some lost soul sitting inside with a transistor radio playing, patiently waiting for someone, anyone, to drive-up to drop off film or pick-up prints. And there they sat on rainy days in those little booths by themselves.

Fotomat was a once widespread retail chain of photo development drive-thru kiosks located in shopping center parking lots. Fotomat Corporation was founded by Preston Fleet in San Diego, California, in the 1960s, (the first kiosk was opened in Point Loma, California, in 1965), and became a public company in 1971 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 1977. At its peak around 1980 there were over 4,000 Fotomats throughout the United States, primarily in suburban areas. Fotomats were distinctive for their pyramid shaped gold-colored roofs and signs with red-lettering, usually positioned in a large parking area such as a supermarket or shopping mall, as the Fotomat huts required a minimal amount of land and were able to accommodate cars driving up to drop off or pick up film. They sold Kodak-brand film and other photography related products and promised one-day photo finishing. Fotomat often hired female employees to work in the small buildings and called them "Fotomates." The Fotomate uniform was a royal blue and yellow smock top. Male employees were called "Fotomacs" and their uniform was a light blue polo shirt.

Fotomat had both company-owned stores and franchises. This led to lawsuits between Fotomat and its franchisees over territories.

In the early 1980s, Fotomat Corporation was acquired by Konishiroku Photo Industry Ltd., which sold it to Konica Photo Imaging in 1986. It was later sold to Viewpoint Corporation in 2002.

The company's main product, one-day development, was made obsolete by one-hour photo development. Fotomat's main product has since become the online digital photo software site Fotomat.com which, as of July 2009, has announced that it will discontinue the online service on 1 September 2009. Users will still be able to maintain their local albums through the toolbar, though after 1 September all online functions will end. Fotomat's message recommends that online customers switch to the Kodak Gallery service.

Fotomat has made some sparse appearances in American popular culture, namely the well-known hut with the yellow mansard roof. A similar business was ruined in the opening scene of Police Academy, although that photo hut was in the shape of a gigantic camera (to likely avoid an obvious reference). In That '70s Show, Steven Hyde works at the parodied "Fotohut" under his hippie boss Leo. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

And so it goes. Good idea one day, out of business the next. Innovation. Obsolescence. But the next time you're looking at some vernacular photos at a flea market dating from the 1960s or later stop and think that maybe some poor soul in one of the Fotomat booths once touched them.

________________________

New book available on Amazon in a few days.
Tattered and Lost: Forgotten Dolls

This one is for those who love dolls!

MARTIN AND LEWIS they're not

Think back to comic duos like Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis and it's always the same. One handsome guy to make the ladies swoon, the other to make them laugh. I'm getting the same vibe from these two fellas.

Click on image to see it larger.

I have no information about this duo. They were in the Big Bag of Negs. Both snappy dressers. I can make up all sorts of stories about them, but I'll let you do that. Each person can bring what they want to the image. It's just another vernacular photograph giving us a chance to step back in time to some strangers history.

And sometimes IT'S NOT WORTH THE ELECTRICITY

The reason most people pass by negs at estate sales and flea markets is because too often you end up with something like this...or worse. So just so you didn't think the Big Bag of Negs is full of winners I give you this. I call it "Blurred House with Driveway. No.4." It speaks volumes about the angst of the middle class following the war. No. It's just a freakin' blurred picture of a tiny house with a tiny garage.

Seriously, there's no reason to click on this thing. It doesn't get any better.

BIG SHADOW from Big Bag of Negs

So the question is what model car is this? I have my suspicion because it looks familiar.

Click on image to see it larger.

Again, from the Big Bag of Negs. This is in pretty poor condition and took quite a bit of work just to bring the picture up. Way overexposed. And then there's that space craft hovering on the right. Was the long tall shadow taking the photo of his car or the space craft? I'm guessing the car.

If I gave this post the title "Proof Aliens Exist!" would it draw people here just to be disappointed? Snicker.

BROTHERS in arms

Again I go digging through the Big Bag of Negs and found this gem. 1940s to early 50s is what I'm thinking. An interesting photo if for nothing else the wooden sidewalks.

At first I was so taken by the guys that I didn't notice the woman way off in the distance pushing a baby carriage. Adds a whole other perspective. I'm thinking they're brothers. The older one, standing, was home on leave and giving his younger brother "what for!" There's a cockiness to him. He's seen the world and is just back for a visit to the old neighborhood. Meanwhile the lady in the background prepares the next generation for life. Really wish I knew where this was. I'm so fascinated by the raised wooden sidewalk.

Click on image to see it larger.

_______

To see a photo of this young man with his mother click here to go to my post "Mother and Son."

BEACH PARTY with watermelon

From the Big Bag of Negs I give you Beach Party!

Click on image to see it larger.

Some negs should never see the light of day, let alone a flatbed scanner. Others just make me smile as the image appears on the screen. I have to wonder how many prints of this one exist. I own the negative. It is in the aforementioned Big Bag of Negs which continues to have losers and winners. This one is a complete winner! And may I say the fourth in my collection of people eating watermelon. Yes, I have 4 photos of people eating watermelon, one involved a pig. If you've followed this blog you'll remember the handsome pig. Then I have two other shots of watermelon eaters that have not been shown. Who knows what sort of watermelon eaters lurk within the Big Bag of Negs! It's a category. I must collect them.

I'd say this one is from the early to mid-50s. I know my mother had a purse exactly like the one in the foreground on the beach. It was white woven fabric with a pull cinch top. I wish I still had it.

As to the shadow in the lower left corner...isn't it a little strange? A clown with a big nose and a funny hat? A one eared fellow with a tiny sailor hat?

And as to the standing fella...well maybe I just remember too many Annette and Frankie Beach Party movies, but I keep waiting for that guy to dance. Shake his butt and do the frug. If you have to ask what the frug is you're already too young. Keep moving', nothin' to see here.