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It is a fascinating place, full of "One Man's Trash is Another Man's..." kind of stuff, and surprisingly doesn't seem to have been completely stripped of all its good stuff, leaving only the dross. That seems to be all too often the case in the few bric-a-brac stores I have visited. If there was anywhere in Tassie that would have a spool of Recording Wire (my current wish-list item for Pandora's Briefcase), it would be here. After perusing The Emporium's wares for too long, I finally asked the lady at the counter. After explaining what it was I was after, she said "No, I haven't got one of those, but I do have... " and pointed down through the cabinet in front of me...
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| Gauge Showing amount of unexposed film in feet; in this case 50 , meaning a full unexposed magazine! |
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| A tab at the top of the magazine opens and closes the exposure window at the front. ("closed" left, "open" right) You can also see the sprocket holes in the film when the window is in the "open" position. |
According to Kodak's Website, in 1936 Kodak introduced a new home movie camera - the 16 mm Magazine CINE-KODAK Camera - that used film in magazines instead of rolls. What is so cool about this find is that it is an unexposed cartridge, which is a slightly odd find as my thinking would be that these things were quite expensive, and the cost of purchase included development of the exposed film and return postage. So you would think that you would make sure you got your money's worth by actually using it, and getting it developed! The only thing I can think of is that stores that carried stock would have been stuck with them when Kodak stopped supporting the format. This would also be pretty much the only way (other than with films that had been exposed, but never developed), to get your hands on the actual cartridge, which remained the property of Kodak and wasn't returned with the developed film. I'm just hoping they don't ask for this one back, because I have become very attached to it, and I paid a whole ten dollars for it!
The "Develop Before" date is December 1941, so it would have been made towards the beginning of production, so who knows what the story is behind this wonderful find!
You would have LOVED my Far Far, the photographer and microscope collector. Seeing this magazine just reminds me of his study and dark room and all the various stuff there - the sight of it, the smell, the textures.
ReplyDeleteThat's cool.
ReplyDeleteYou may well be on to something Rob. The woman said that this was the last of five they originally had; perhaps someone had grand dreams of an epic movie - but never got around to it!
ReplyDeleteAnd I morn the loss of your Yowies.
Snuva, your Far Far's study sounds like my kind of "Emporium"! (I always get a headache in darkrooms - chemical fumes maybe? )
Oh, and Rob, your theory is strengthened even more (and I thought this at the time of writing, and promptly forgot it!)when I consider that, sitting at the bottom of our refrigerator are five or six unexposed cartridges of Kodak super-8 film. They are also "development pre-paid", which Kodak is no longer able to honour! Go figure!
ReplyDeleteOK, I'm not sure where Rob's comment disappeared to, but to help make sense of my last two comments, this is what he said:
ReplyDelete"Impressive.
I think you might be missing another reason why it might not have been used. I can think of plenty of times where I've had some kind of valuable consumable (DV tapes, CD-Rs, Yowie chocolates!) sitting around for years, waiting for that "special day" where I would use/eat it, until one day I realise it's too late. It's has either perished or became obsolete. It's precisely because of my desire not to waste a resource, that leads to it being wasted."
And now Kodachrome slide film is dead...
ReplyDeleteSource - Wikipedia: During its heyday, many Kodak and independent laboratories processed Kodachrome; by 2010, one Kodak certified facility remained: Dwayne's Photo in Parsons, Kansas.[5] On 14 July 2010 it was announced[6] that the last produced roll of Kodachrome was developed by Dwayne's for photographer Steve McCurry on assignment for National Geographic. The 36 slides will be permanently housed at the Eastman House in Rochester, NY.[6]
On 30 December 2010, Dwaynes Photo in Parsons, Kansas, officially announced the end their Kodachrome processing, effectively ending Kodachrome's 75-year-long career.[7]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodachrome