April 1944 Popular Photography ads
Toronto. In the spring of 1944, it seemed as if everyone wanted to make photographic paper, especially the fast variety suitable for enlarging (slower contact paper worked but took minutes of exposure, not seconds). In the 1950s, only the larger establishments could sell Kodak papers, all smaller studios and shops sold ‘off brands’. This included Ilford at the time. I tried Ilford back then, but sample photos were hard to find so it was a bit of a pig-in-a-poke situation. I stuck with Kodak.
Papers varied in sensitivity, weight, surface, contrast (grade), etc. Some makers, like the mighty Eastman-Kodak had readily available sample sheets to help the professional or enthusiastic amateur choose a paper. Years later, Ilford pushed black and white material and had a gorgeous sample book for their two paper product lines (Ilfobrom and Ilfomar). Ilford films, paper filters, and chemistry, all for black and white exposures took off due to their well thought out and systematic approaches. For example, instead of storing a number of different paper grades for any given product, you needed just ONE Ilford paper. Every paper had the full gamut of grades so a simple filter change in the enlarger was used instead.
A tip of the hat to George Dunbar for suggesting these ads for alternatives to enlarging paper from the Great Yellow Father. In the end, It came down to mostly Kodak or Agfa for colour paper and mostly Ilford for black and white paper.
NB. The post title means ‘thousand sheets’ and comes from a delightful French pastry. I first enjoyed mille feuille over sixty years ago in Montreal with my morning coffee. You can make a modern version with this preppy kitchen recipe.
