Sepia Saturday 285: One Button Does It

The Kodak, introduced by Eastman Kodak in June 1888
Image © and courtesy of LiveAuctioneers
The firm of Eastman Kodak of Rochester, New York is popularly associated with early amateur photography, bringing to most peoples' minds the Brownie from February 1900 (pictured below), or perhaps even their "original" Kodak box camera introduced in June 1888 (above). The Kodak and its immediate successor the No 1 Kodak used factory-loaded and processed rollfilm and over 15,000 cameras were manufactured before the line was discontinued in 1895.


The Brownie, introduced by Eastman Kodak in February 1900
Image © and courtesy of David Purcell
The first Brownie was in production for less than two years from February 1900 until October 1901, during which time almost a quarter of a million were sold. Renamed the No 1 Brownie, but almost identical, it went on to sell over half a million more between then and 1916. The superficial similarity between the two rectangular black boxes, however, belies the technological advances that were made and the ideas that were brought together in Eastman Kodak's range of cameras during the last decade of the nineteenth century.


Eastman Kodak Camera Prices and Production Volumes, 1888-1901
Data extracted from Coe (1988)
In his book The Story of Kodak, Douglas Collins details many of these developments, including paper-backed, daylight-loading rollfilm, improvements in viewfinders, lenses and shutters, lightweight construction, mass production techniques, judicious acquisition of patents, recruitment of people with appropriate technical skills and fresh marketing ideas. In 1888, 5,200 units of the flagship Kodak sold at $25.00 apiece. In the space of just over a decade, the cameras were simplified and production costs reduced to such an extent that the No. 1 Brownie could be sold for $1.00, and it went on to sell more than half a million units. The No 2 Brownie was even more successful.


Pocket Kodak, introduced by Eastman Kodak in July 1895
Dimensions 3" x 4" x 2¼" (74 x 99 x 57mm)
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
In July 1895 Eastman Kodak placed on the market a diminutive new camera whose sales would outstrip all of their earlier models. The Pocket Kodak was tiny, easily fitting in the palm of one's hand, and very lightweight, the early models being constructed of aluminium in a leather-covered wooden case. It used a 12-exposure specially designed roll film (102-format) which produced a photograph measuring 1½" x 2" (38 x 51 mm), and at only $5.00, it was their cheapest camera, a fifth of the price of the No 1 Kodak which was finally phased out that same year. Sales increased spectacularly, and an initial daily production run of 200 units was quickly increased. By the end of the year the Pocket Kodak sold 100,000 units, more than five times the total 19,000 units which their previous most popular model, the No 2 Kodak, sold between 1889 and 1897.


'96 Model Pocket Kodak, Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester NY
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
Even though the camera was a runaway success, its designer Frank Brownell continued to tweak and make minor modifications to the design while it was in production. At least four models have been identified from the first year alone, followed by '96, '98, '99 and D model designations. My own example of this camera is a '96 Model and, judging by the latest patent date listed on the inside of the case, must have been manufactured after 12 January 1897. This example includes several modifications not seen on previous versions, including a wooden (as opposed to aluminium) film carrier, coarse-grained black leather covering, a rotary shutter (which replaced the Tisdell sector shutter) and a rectangular (rather than circular) viewfinder.


Patent US575,208, F.A. Brownell, Photographic Camera, 12 Jan 1897
Image courtesy of Google Patents
Although the camera depicted in the 1897 patent drawing appears to be the Kodak No 2 Bullet, with a larger square 3½" x 3½" format compared to the Pocket Kodak's smaller rectangular 1½" x 2", the design is almost identical.



'95 Model Pocket Kodak with Plateholder inserted
Image © and courtesy of Jos Erdkamp
The Pocket Kodak does not, however, have a side door on the case, a provision to allow the use of a double plate holder instead of Kodak's new cartridge rollfilm. Instead, a thin wooden panel in the back of the case housing the red celluloid window could be removed and a small, specially designed plate holder be slid into the slot in its place.


Wooden Case (left) and Film Carrier (Right), '96 Model Pocket Kodak
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
Two strips mounted on the lens-shutter board, accesible by pull-up tabs on the top front edge of the camera, enabled shutter speed (Time and Instantaneous) and aperture (3 settings) to be set by the user. A red celluloid window at the back displayed the exposure printed on the film's paper backing and, with a fixed-focus meniscus-type lens (focal length of 2½"), it was a very simple camera to operate.


Eastman Kodak Co. Advert, Pocket Kodak, from Cosmopolitan, Oct 1895
Image © & courtesy Duke University Libraries Digital Collections, K0549
In the words of an advertisement placed in Cosmopolitan magazine of October 1895, "One Button Does It." Despite the small size of the negative, the quality enabled either contact prints or enlargements "of any size" to be made.


Film Carrier with take-up spool, '96 Model Pocket Kodak
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
The most convenient aspect of Kodak's three new cameras released 1895, the No 2 Bullet (March), Pocket Kodak (July) and No 2 Bulls-Eye (August), was that they all used the daylight-loading film patented by Samuel N. Turner, which Eastman purchased in August that year. The celluloid film sensitized with emulsion was backed with light-excluding paper, and then rolled on a flanged spool which fitted into a slot in the camera. The film was then led across rollers at the back and then wound onto a take-up spool on the opposite side of the carrier.


'95 Model (First version) Pocket Kodak with 102-format film & "Primer"
Image © and courtesy of Geoff Harrisson
The 101- and 102-format films, each containing 12 exposures, were enthusiastically received by amateur photographers, who could now send the exposed film, rather than the whole camera, back to the Kodak factory for processing. Nor did they need to take a hundred snapshots before seeing the results. Eastman Kodak catalogues offered "developing and printing outfits" at very reasonable prices, and a few independent firms even began opening shops to process amateur films.



'95 Model Pocket Kodak in leather case
Image © and courtesy of Jos Erdkamp
The Pocket Kodak ($5.00) came with two instruction manuals, a "Field Primer" and a "Dark Room Primer," and the owner could also purchase a leather hand-carrying case (75c) large enough to carry the camera and three extra spools of film (25c each). Home developing enthusiasts might order from the 1896 Kodak catalogue enamelled (glossy finish) or platino bromide (matte finish) paper in packets of a dozen 6½" x 8½" sheets ($1.10), enough for a couple of hundred contact prints, and white embossed card mounts at 10 cents for a dozen. Pocket albums to hold 50 or 100 prints were offered, as were "wire easels" for displaying mounted prints to full advantage. Eastman knew that, with burgeoning sales of his cameras, the real money was to going to be made in consumables.


Negative envelopes for Pocket Kodak with mounted print
Image © and courtesy of Geoff Harrisson
Once processed the film negatives were returned to the customer in specially printed brown envelopes, together with any prints which had been ordered. Spaces on the front of the envelope were filled in by the processor - in this case Eastman Photographic Material Co., Ltd. and its successor Kodak Limited - with order number and how many good frames and failures there were. Sadly no dates were recorded. If prints had been ordered, and paid for, Kodak undertook to replace any failures with duplicates from the successful shots.


Nellie Ashley seated on front porch, undated, taken c. 1895-1897
Silver bromide print (50 x 37mm, 2" x 1½")
White embossed "Pocket Kodak" mount (86 x 73mm), Design A
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
This example of a 2" x 1½" print pasted on the standard embossed white card mount sold for Pocket Kodak sized prints is from my own collection. Although undated, from the size and shape of the woman's sleeves I believe it to have been taken c. 1895-1897, which roughly equates to the period before a wider variety of mounts became available.


Unidentified children, Cole's Photo Studio, undated, taken c. 1900-1905
Silver bromide print (approx. 50 x 37mm, 2" x 1½")
White embossed "Pocket Kodak" mount (approx 86 x 73mm), Design B
Image © and courtesy of Rodger Kingston Collection
Kodak's 1898 catalogue shows three different styles of mount sold for the Pocket Kodak, with variations of white and grey, embossed or enamelled faces, but by 1900 the range had increased enormously to a range of 11 styles in white, grey, green, black and brown, with beveled or square edges. The 1901 catalogue, reflecting the replacement of the Pocket Kodak by the Brownie in the company's small box camera range, lists no mounts at all for the Pocket Kodak.


Cover of Pocket Kodak Album, used c.1896
"Full padded red Morocco cover, to hold 96 Pocket Kodak prints"
Image © and courtesy of John Toohey, One Man's Treasure
Of course not all photographs produced with a Pocket Kodak were mounted on card. Many went into albums such as the one shown above from John Toohey's collection which was advertised in the 1897 Kodak Great britain Price List as having a "full padded red Morocco cover, plate mark, india tint round openings, to hold 96 Pocket Kodak prints," and sold for 5 shillings (then equivalent to roughly $2.00).


Page from Pocket Kodak Album, Paris, 1896
incl. views of the "Opéra," "Arc de Triomphe" and "Trinité"
Image © and courtesy of John Toohey, One Man's Treasure
The album has 12 pages, each containing 8 openings, totalling 96 prints of photographs illustrating a visit to Paris in 1896. John believes that they were probably taken in one day while the photographer was wandering around Paris, possibly trying out the new camera.


Page from Pocket Kodak Album, Paris, 1896
incl. views of cycling, "Bois de Boulognee" and "Carrefour de Longchamp"
Image © and courtesy of John Toohey, One Man's Treasure
He has noticed that that same woman appears in several images, suggesting she was travelling with the photographer. They are framed, as described, with a grey india tint around the openings.


Unidentified location & date, probably taken c. late 1890s
Mounted Pocket Kodak prints pasted on album page, Designs A (top left) and Design C (others)
Image © and courtesy of Jos Erdkamp
Jos Erdkamp has kindly shared from his collection an album page with eight mounted Pocket Kodak prints, four pasted on the front and four on the back. These too appear to have been taken in a city somewhere in Europe, although the location is not identified. Three of the mounts (shown in the image above) are of a third design, different from the two displayed previously.


Page from Pocket Kodak Album, Paris, 1896
incl. views of the "Eiffel Tower" and "Champ de Mars"
Image © and courtesy of John Toohey, One Man's Treasure
It was the 1890s when amateur photographs first started to appear in any substantial number featuring everyday subjects instead of the usual scenic shots recording places visited, and it is interesting to note that the subject matter of extant Pocket Kodak prints appears to follow that trend. George Eastman recognised that keen amateur photographers who had the time, expertise and interest to learn the skills required to process negatives and photographs would be far outnumbered by those who wished merely to capture a snapshot of their daily life, with no interest whatsoever in getting involved with making the prints. With his famous marketing mantra, "You press the button, we do the rest," he separated the two photographic functions and developed an infrastructure that would take care of all the processing, as well as provide materials to the enthusiasts who still wished to develop and print their own.



'95 Model Pocket Kodak (black) and leather case
Image © and courtesy of Jos Erdkamp
Although the Pocket Kodak itself contained no ground breaking new technology, it was the combination of several recent inventions, often made by Eastman's predecessors or competitors, into one fundamentally simple device, cheap to produce and easy to operate, together with a supporting network of processing facilities, that turned turned it and the No 2 Bulls-Eye into runaway success stories. They also paved the way for the introduction of an even cheaper and simpler camera, the Brownie, which in 1900 would eclipse all in the quest for unpretentious sentimental photographic mementos of everyday life.

I'm very grateful to David Purcell, Jos Erdkamp, Geoff Harrisson, Rodger Kingston and John Toohey who have all kindly supplied me with images of items in their respective collections for my research, and permitted me to use them here.

A connection with this week's Sepia Saturday theme image, a postcard of the Chittenden Hotel in Columbus, Ohio, is somewhat tenuous, but you'll find several images of multi-storied buildings in my contribution, and no doubt you'll see plenty more if you pay the rest of those happy themers a visit.

References & Further Reading

Brayer, Elizabeth (2006) George Eastman: A Biography, Rochester, New York: University of Rochester Press, 637p.

Coe, Brian (1976) The Birth of Photography: The story of the formative years, 1800-1900, London: Spring Books, 144p.

Coe, Brian (1978) Cameras: From Daguerreotypes to Instant Pictures, United States: Crown Publishers, 240p.

Coe, Brian (1988) Kodak Cameras: the First Hundred Years, East Sussex, United Kingdom: Hove Foto Books, 298p.

Collins, Douglas (1990) The Story of Kodak, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 392p.

Gustavson, Todd (2009) Camera, A History of Photography from Daguerreotype to Digital, New York: Sterling, 360pp.

Niederman, Rob & Zahorcak, Milan (nd) Digitized Kodak Catalog Project, DVD

Rosenblum, Naomi (2008) A World History of Photography, 4th Edition, New York: Abbeville Press, 671p.