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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!
