A Kodak folder c1914 with the Autographic feature
Toronto. … or ‘the right way of titling negatives’. In issue 17-1 Bob Wilson discusses the early 1900s Kodak Autographics. Bob begins his article, “From the earliest days, photographers devised ways of adding titles to their negatives so that the titles would appear on the prints. If a white title was wanted, they would write onto the negative with black ink.
“This ink would block the light, creating a white title on the print. If a black title was needed, they had to remove emulsion from the negative by scratching or by writing on the emulsion with a special ink . This ink would bleach the silver when the negative was immersed in ordinary fixing solution. This left the area on the negative clear where the writing had been and thus would print black on the print.”
At one time I had a Kodak 3A Autographic with its leather case. It was a sturdy folder design. I bought the camera in Montreal and years later donated it to the PHSC. It became an auction lot and now resides in Ryerson (TMU).
As usual, members can read the original issue, or its pdf equivalent on the DVD we send free to all members. To join, see ‘MEMBERSHIP’ above or ‘Membership – Join or Renew!’ at right. Questions? Drop Lilianne an email at member@phsc.ca.
