Hello & welcome to another edition of the GK Nugget. In today’s selfie obsessed world, “Say Cheese” might have become our most favourite phrase. May 7th marks a momentous day for this photo snapping world of today for it was on this day 129 years ago (in 1888) that George Eastman patented the ‘Kodak Box Camera’ and so today’s GK Nugget will uncover trivia about the inventor of the camera and his invention.
The Kodak Box Camera contained a roll film with 100 exposures. It was an easy to use camera with a fixed focal length and once the photographer had used up the 100 exposures, s/he could send the camera to the Eastman Kodak company which would develop the film and also insert a new one in the camera and send it back to the owner.
In 1900, the Kodak Brownie camera was introduced which sold for $1. This further helped photography turn into a hobby.
The Kodak tagline was “You press the button – we do the rest” thus symbolizing that all the buyer had to do was take a photo while the company would manage the processing of the photos.
Kodak was an entirely made up word, not meaning anything specific. George Eastman said “I devised the name myself. The letter ‘K’ had been a favorite with me — it seems a strong, incisive sort of letter. It became a question of trying out a great number of combinations of letters that made words starting and ending with ‘K.’ The word ‘Kodak’ is the result.”
Years later, our holidays and adventures are still defined by that perfect “Kodak moment”.
Eastman’s film went on to be used in motion pictures which helped the film industry reach every corner of the globe. Eastman is the only person represented by two stars in the Hollywood Walk of Fame recognizing the same achievement – for his invention of roll film.
While his company enjoyed a monopoly for a large part of its existence, Eastman was a philanthropist who willing donated large sums towards health (dental clinics), education (one university being the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) & also pioneered employee stock options way back in 1919.
George Eastman never married. During the last 2 years of his life he suffered intense pain from a spinal disorder which eventually drove him to take his own life. His suicide note read “To my friends, my work is done – why wait?”
While Eastman’s innovation pretty much started the amateur photography craze that is still going strong today, his company almost didn’t make it. A standard case study reference in MBA text books, Kodak is cited as a prime example of a Goliath being displaced by a David. The advent of digital photography in the 1990s and camera mobile phones later on took the company by surprise. Having filed for bankruptcy in 2012 Kodak emerged from the woods in mid 2013 and now focuses on digital imaging, photographic materials, equipment and services. There is a rumour about a Kodak mobile phone being readied for launch, but only time will tell if that is true
So that’s the story of our cameras that have faithfully documented innumerable memorable moments of our lives.
On a side note, the pronunciation of the word “Cheese” is believed to lift the speaker’s mouth into a smile thereby enhancing the beauty of the photo, which is why we always say Cheese before we click.
That’s all on this edition of the GK Nugget. See you next time.
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