ad April 1955 for the Kodak Stereo Camera line – a far less expensive option for stereo slides
Toronto. As mentioned many posts back, stereo has a surge in popularity about once every half century as new technology improves the images. In the 1950s another surge hit with toys, cameras, books, articles, movies, slides, colour, viewers, and projectors all offered in stereo versions.
In 1955, Kodak placed the black and white ad at left in the April issue of Popular Mechanics. While the ad announced the company’s Kodak Stereo Camera and hand viewers, it reminded every reader of Kodachrome colour transparency film and how easy it was to use, especially in their stereo cameras.
Interestingly, the bulk of the ad is taken up with an explanation of stereo as if it is a new phenomenon and not over a century old. In this century, we have seen TVs and movies use the stereo idea and while there is less eye strain (at least in movies) special glasses were still needed to separate the two images for our brain. So fade out again …
My thanks to my good friend and fellow photography historian, George Dunbar, for spotting this historical ad and sharing it with us. Well done George!
