Tag Archives: LIFE

Kodak’s contribution to the war effort

Posted on April 2, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. WW2 brought war photography to a new level – along with  advertisements and non-German cameras etc. The ad at left shows how Kodak continued to support the war effort in the States with military goods manufactured of ‘Tenite’ – … Continue reading →

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a real brick …

Posted on December 10, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. We have commented on the famous Argus C-3 camera many times, but this beautiful ad was just too hard to pass up. Fondly known as the ‘brick’, the C-3 (C3) was by far the best selling camera of the … Continue reading →

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zoned out

Posted on December 6, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Post WW2, a decision was made to divide Germany into four zones – American,  British, French, and Russian. To politicians, this was a marvellous way to solve occupation of the defeated country by many forces. But to some camera … Continue reading →

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an ‘Arctic Madonna’ c 1937

Posted on February 8, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. Many of us have seen and enjoyed the photography of the late George Hunter, including his iconic portraits of the Inuit people. Surprisingly, an American photographer visited the far north to photograph its people for LIFE magazine back in … Continue reading →

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angel of the morning

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. In 1972, Dr Edwin Land electrified the photographic community when he announced his new SLR camera, the SX-70. This incredible camera had all the bells and whistles of contemporary cameras plus creating colour prints, with no waste, in just … Continue reading →

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flogging colour print film in the 1970s

Posted on April 16, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. At first I thought these were two separate shots showing the superiority of Kodak colour film, since cameras or gift sets didn’t appear in the advertisement. Suddenly, I realized that the vertical white bar was a seam. This photo … Continue reading →

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controlling the market

Posted on April 3, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. For decades Kodak controlled the film market by creating new film sizes and the cameras to use them. Heavy advertising prompted the ill informed public to buy the latest Kodak camera and use Kodak film.  An example is this … Continue reading →

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keeping an eye out

Posted on March 21, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. As this late 1971 LIFE ad for Kodak illustrates, marketeers had to be creative and inspired to create new copy far faster than the engineers and designers could make new cameras with new features. This version of Kodak’s relatively … Continue reading →

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big yellow taxi

Posted on February 28, 2021 by Robert

Toronto.  In the days of film, the exposed film was processed and then printed. Prints and the developed film were returned to the owner. In the US, a company called Fotomat was formed. The company’s business plan was simple: Put … Continue reading →

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another way to skin a cat

Posted on February 24, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. It’s the 1970s and your camera doesn’t have a socket for the ubiquitous magicubes. Nor can it use Kodak’s super simple Instamatic film cartridges. What do you do? Well Yashica advertised that their cameras let you take indoor photos … Continue reading →

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