KODAK HERITAGE
COLLECTION
NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2014
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!!
Another year has rushed past us, but brought with it a lot of opportunities, stories and projects, some of
which we would like to share with you in this bumper issue of our Kodak Heritage Collection newsletter.
UNPACKING OUR MEMORIES
In September this year, Fiona Kinsey, Hannah Perkins, and our student volunteer Dana Kells unpacked and
sorted a pallet of Kodak film and paper products which were acquired from the factory when it closed in
2005. The process involved sorting by product type, and then by packaging type and date. The collection
spans the twentieth century, with an astounding variety of different film formats, speeds, and functions.
Sorting Kodak films
Volunteer Dana Kells working on Kodak films
The collection formed a kind of miniature cityscape of film spools and boxes, laid across several tables,
radiating that distinctive Kodak yellow. However, there were also some beautiful, albeit worn, Eastman film
boxes and Nepera papers, as well as products from competitors like Fuji, Pacific Film, and even some
packaged generic pharmacy films like ‘Soul Colour’.
HT 37801 – Box for Eastman Double Two Film
Cartridge
HT 37836 – Box for Kodachrome Slide Film
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Some re-housed film spools in a tote with Ethafoam base and Tyvek padding, ready for cool storage.
Various Museum Victoria staff stopped by our workspace while the first round of products was being laid
out. Almost every time, people’s first reaction was to chuckle knowingly but then they immediately became
curious and introspective. If they stayed longer to chat, the discussion invariably revolved around some
memory of using these films; of family holidays; of their father buying reams of film for each new camera he
purchased; of adolescent self-portraits taken for art projects; of the simple experience of taking a film to the
chemist to be developed and what that felt like. A tradesman, who was checking the electrics in the
Museum, smiled sadly at the collection and we spoke about changing technologies. He, like many others,
was surprised that these things could be going into a museum already.
Hannah mid-registration in the Kodak workspace
Museum Victoria
GPO Box 666 Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia
Telephone +61 3 8341 7777
Website http://museum.vic.gov.au/
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Hannah reflects on the sorting process: ‘These films come to embody not only the history of photographic
technology, but the meanings each of us made around them. I feel that this is the Kodak Heritage
Collection’s strength. People who immediately reacted with laughter at these seemingly mundane, recentlyubiquitous objects, almost instantly realized that it was important for things like this to exist here in the
Museum. Roll film’s previous meaning in our material culture is almost gone. This nostalgia and memory
making is not new to museums – it is something that all history and technology collections provide, but to
witness it so immediately, in the museum, with a collection I spend every day with was a quiet joy to me.
It was an involved process to sort the Verichromes from the Ektachromes, the Kodacolors from the
Kodachromes, the VPS 127s from the VP 120s etc., but the films and papers have now been registered,
rehoused and photographed. I hope that by featuring these products on Museum Victoria’s Collections
Online website, people will share their experiences and memories at home. Check the website for updates
in the coming weeks.’
See the Kodak Heritage Collection on the Museum’s Collections Online Website:
http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/themes/2882/kodak-heritage-collection
GLASS NEGATIVES
In an earlier sorting and registration project, we uncovered over 200 glass plate negatives and lantern slides
in the collection, some of which came from the Kodak Museum. In October and November, we undertook a
project to conserve, photograph and preserve all of these images for further research and access.
Having digitised the plates and converted the images into positives that are easy to view, we can now see
the significance of these images, which was one of the goals of this project. Of particular interest are some
previously unseen images of the Abbotsford factory and grounds from the early 20th century, which show
incredible detail of the site and staff. (See examples further down) There is also an image of the Kodak
Australasia Limited store on Collins Street, Melbourne, circa 1911-1920, and there are some images of
different Kodak branches in Perth and North Queensland from the 1930s, featuring some great views of
staff, gardens and storefronts. These negatives match prints we have in the Collection.
There were also many late 19th and early 20th century images that don’t relate to Kodak directly, but which
we believe came from the Kodak museum, including a series of portraits of members of the Independent
Order of Rechabites, captured formally in studios, and at various social and sporting functions. There are
portraits of soldiers, some anonymous photographs of men, women and children in domestic spaces, rural
and bush scenes. More research is required on these images to identify people, places and dates.
Conservator Leah Williams (seen at left, carefully
cleaning a glass plate negative) was employed on a
short-term contract throughout October to clean and
prepare the plates for photography.
Museum Victoria
GPO Box 666 Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia
Telephone +61 3 8341 7777
Website http://museum.vic.gov.au/
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Photographer Jennifer McNair was also contracted, to produce high quality, positive digital images from
these negatives. Jennifer had the following to say about the process:
‘For the digitisation aspect of this project I used a Hasselblad H4D-40 medium format SLR camera, the
same 40 megapixel camera that was used to digitise the Thomas Baker Formulae Book earlier this year.
This camera produces high resolution images with file sizes over 200mb each which are suitable for both
preservation and content reading. Along with this I used a Linhof LED Repro Lightbox which is specially
designed to digitise glass negatives. The light source has a neutrally balanced, cool output so protects the
negatives from heat damage and colour shifts. A special mount securely holds the glass negative above the
surface of the lightbox, eliminating any light spills that might lower the contrast of the original negative.
Images were processed using specialist ‘digital darkroom’ software.
Jennifer, Hasselblad camera & lightbox
Processing the images in a ‘digital darkroom’
The original glass negatives contain a lot of depth and detail, especially the larger plates, so using a highend digital camera and lightbox to copy them meant all this detail could be retained and easily accessed.
Zooming into the digitised images on a computer screen at 300dpi A2 size, viewed at 100% magnification,
has enabled many elements to be seen that were otherwise too small to notice on the original plates. For
example in the image below (MM 137964), internal staircases and stacked paper rolls are visible through
windows, and in the factory grounds, staff can be seen playing sport, relaxing under trees and sitting on
benches.
Museum Victoria
GPO Box 666 Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia
Telephone +61 3 8341 7777
Website http://museum.vic.gov.au/
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MM 137964 - Glass Negative - Kodak Australasia Pty Ltd, Abbotsford Plant from Across Yarra River, circa 1940s
These cropped images show details of MM 137964 as indicated by the red outlines. At left are stacked paper rolls in
a window, and at right are staff playing sport and relaxing in the factory grounds.
In another example (not shown here), Glass Negative - Kodak Australasia Pty Ltd, Abbotsford Plant from
Across Yarra River, circa 1940 (MM 137965) people and dogs can be seen foraging in a rubbish pile near
the river, there is a person standing in the hatch of a factory building roof and two staff members can be
seen sitting near a basketball court.
One of my favourite discoveries was in Glass Negative - Kodak Australasia Pty Ltd, X-Ray & Medical
Imaging Showroom, circa 1930s (MM 138258). On the right side of the image is a large lightbox with a
radiograph of ‘a living person’. When I zoomed in on this image I noticed that the person was wearing a pair
of high heel shoes. The x-ray image shows the many nails used to construct the shoes.
Museum Victoria
GPO Box 666 Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia
Telephone +61 3 8341 7777
Website http://museum.vic.gov.au/
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MM 138258 Glass Negative - Kodak Australasia Pty Ltd, X-Ray & Medical Imaging Showroom, circa 1930s.
Detail on right shows numerous nails in the person’s shoes.
Another interesting feature on some of the negatives was strips of masking paper attached to the glass side
of the plate, which showed where the negative should be cropped during printing. These plates have
unexposed curved edges, which might indicate that the photographer used a lens not designed to use with
that size plate. This was probably done as a compromise between focal length, detail and availability of
lenses. I think it highlights the make-do nature of photographers quite well.
Digitising these negatives was not only a nice challenge, it was also a thrill to spend so much time looking at
the images in detail, finding interesting elements and researching why the photographer might have used a
certain technique.'
Museum Victoria
GPO Box 666 Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia
Telephone +61 3 8341 7777
Website http://museum.vic.gov.au/
6
UPDATE ON THE THOMAS BAKER FORMULAE BOOK
Since the Thomas Baker Formulae Book was imaged captured at high resolution by the Museum’s
Production Studio earlier this year, a team of three former Kodak staff have been working with Senior
Curator Fiona Kinsey on transcribing and analysing key components of the book, which is a real treasure of
the collection.
The formulae book dates from 1884 to 1921, and covers the time period beginning with the establishment of
Thomas Baker's photographic product manufacturing business, the Austral Plate Company, and continues
as the business expanded and evolved through various entities and name changes, including Baker &
Rouse Pty Ltd, and after the merger with Kodak.
The book contains the chemical formulae and associated detailed instructions for making a variety of
photographic goods, including emulsions for glass plates, photographic papers, x-ray products, toning and
fixing products. The earliest entry was made on 20 November 1884, and was for making 'settled' emulsion,
in preparation for coating onto glass plates. The latest entry is from November 1921, for x-ray plates. The
book also includes discussion of manufacturing problems that required improved chemistry or handling
solutions, and noted the costs of some processes, such as coating glass plates. The book bears evidence
of Baker's photochemical work, with emulsion droplets containing mercury, lead and silver in trace amounts
still evident on some pages.
John Mitcham, former General Manager Manufacturing & Company Director from 1981-1998, has been
working on collating and analysing the manufacturing business data, such as costings and volumes of
manufacturing work listed in the book. Ian Stewart, a chemist who worked in a variety of roles at Kodak until
1997, and who had a lot of experience in the Emulsion and Photochemical Departments, has been doing
analysis of the emulsions in the formulae book and researched their context in photochemical history. Don
Pitkethly, who worked in the Emulsion Department, has also contributed to this important research.
This project, which is still in progress, has increased our understanding of Thomas Baker and Kodak’s
emulsion making and coating work, and will continue over the next year. Updates will be communicated
about the conclusions of our research and analysis in future newsletters.
KODAK ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
Kodak Heritage Collection Oral Historian, Lesley Alves, and Senior Curator Fiona Kinsey have been busy
interviewing former Kodak staff this year, many of whom also donated artefacts relating to their working life
at Kodak. Lesley and Fiona outline below some of the interviews that they have conducted.
Managing Director Stories
One key project that Lesley has undertaken was interviewing former Kodak Australasia Managing Directors,
and she reflects on the insights into the history of Kodak that she has gained through these interviews:
‘Five former Managing Directors described their career paths at Kodak to me. The first two, Gerry Johnston
and Will Fraser, commenced their careers as scientists. By contrast, John Allen, Greg McKibbin and Murray
Walton came to the managing director role from finance or marketing backgrounds. All of them had a stint
with Eastman Kodak in the USA, where they broadened their experience at Kodak’s regional level. Their
stories reflect the final stage of Kodak Australasia’s heyday in manufacturing and the difficult period of
downsizing that followed.
Museum Victoria
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Telephone +61 3 8341 7777
Website http://museum.vic.gov.au/
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According to Nigel Beale’s unpublished history of Kodak Australasia, the practice of recruiting science
graduates for future management commenced at least as early as the 1950s. It is obvious that Kodak, as a
science based industry, needed scientists for the highly technical work of making film products, but I wanted
to discover why highly qualified scientists moved out of science and up the senior management ladder at
Kodak.’
Dr Gerry Johnston, who was recruited from the University of Melbourne after completing a PhD in nuclear
physics in 1967, explains:
I was part of a group of PhDs hired at the time,
because at that stage MBAs were in their infancy
and it was fashionable to hire scientists to later go
into management positions. So Kodak Australasia, I
guess following Eastman Kodak, hired about eight
or nine PhDs, all about the time I joined. Many of
those ended up in senior positions either in
manufacturing or in marketing in one form or the
other.
Dr Gerry Johnston
Gerry had management positions in both manufacturing and marketing before joining senior management
with fellow PhD recruit Ziggy Switkowski. The then Managing Director was Ed Woods, who had also begun
his career as a scientist. Gerry was Managing Director from 1996 until he retired in 1998.
His successor, Dr Will Fraser was in the same group of recruits as Gerry. He explains how his move into
management in the 1970s built on his science experience:
My job was to lead a team called the sensitising
technology section that was tasked with supporting
the sensitising department in manufacturing. That’s
the heart of the manufacturing operations – that
made the film emulsions and did the coatings. So it
was highly technical stuff.
Dr Will Fraser
Will eventually moved to consumer business, where he established the Kodak Express one hour photo
program. The ‘summit’ of Will’s career was a corporate vice-president role for Eastman Kodak, working as a
regional manager in Europe. When in 1998 Will returned to Australia as Managing Director, he found that
job had become a local administrative role, with most of the authority held in Rochester. The era of the
scientist manager was coming to an end when Will retired in 1999.
Museum Victoria
GPO Box 666 Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia
Telephone +61 3 8341 7777
Website http://museum.vic.gov.au/
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John Allen joined Kodak New Zealand Pty Ltd as
finance manager in 1974, but found marketing more
satisfying when he worked in a regional marketing
job for Eastman Kodak. In 1992 he became
Managing Director of Kodak New Zealand before
his appointment as Managing Director of Kodak
Australasia in 1999.
John Allen
John had the unenviable task of closing the Coburg factory at the end of 2004. In the interview John
describes in detail the efforts that went into ensuring that all employees were treated fairly. It was also the
end of John’s career; he was made redundant along with thousands of other employees.
Greg McKibbin commenced working at Kodak as a marketing trainee, straight from school in 1964. He
worked his way up through the company, building a career in sales and marketing, mostly in graphics and
motion picture products.
Greg McKibbin
Greg worked in regional management roles
overseas and in Melbourne, and was a director on
the board of Kodak Australasia when Rochester
decided to close Kodak’s Coburg plant. He has
strong memories of that ‘tough day’ in September
2004 when the closure was announced. As
Managing Director from 2005 to 2007, Greg
oversaw the dismantling of the Coburg site and
removal of the remaining 500 staff to premises in
Victoria Parade, Collingwood. He moved to another
Kodak regional job in 2007 before he resigned in
2009, forty five years to the day after he
commenced employment at Kodak.
Murray Walton was a chartered accountant with senior financial management experience when he joined
Kodak New Zealand as Financial Controller in 1994. He succeeded John Allen as Managing Director of
Kodak New Zealand in 1998. Murray describes the relationship between Kodak Australasia and Kodak New
Zealand as ‘very close, particularly in the finance function’.
Museum Victoria
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Telephone +61 3 8341 7777
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In 2003 Murray moved to Australia to run Kodak
Australasia’s retail group, which he later had the
task of closing. When he was appointed Managing
Director in 2007 he was ‘double hatting’ with a
regional finance director job in Singapore. In 2009 it
was Murray’s turn to be made redundant. He was
subsequently recruited as Chief Finance Officer for
a small multi-national education company, where
his experience at Kodak has been useful.
Murray Walton
From Sales to Medical Imaging
While it is important to have the stories of top management, over the past few months Lesley has also
interviewed a variety of other former Kodak employees from across the company, whose stories address an
interesting range of themes:
John Harvey commenced in 1958 as a trainee. He worked mostly at Kodak House in Collins Street and the
La Trobe Street warehouse at first, then became a travelling sales representative. After leaving Kodak in
1970, he ran a photographic laboratory then a silver recovery business.
John Garrett worked at Abbotsford, Burnley and Kodak House from 1937 to 1952. In his interview, John
describes the process of coating glass plates and his job as assistant to the technical director.
Dr Peter Harvey joined Kodak as a research scientist in 1968, later moving into supply and distribution then
employee relations, before returning to the research laboratories as manager, a position he held for 20
years until he retired in 1998.
Betty Radstake was secretary to the canteen manager and the waste survey manager at Abbotsford in the
1950s. She left to start a family, then returned to Kodak at the Coburg plant where she worked as a
densitometer operator in the testing department in the early 1960s.
The next phase of the Oral History Project will involve interviewing a number of key people who worked in
medical imaging, including those who worked in this speciality at Kodak, and those who worked in the
development and operation of medical imaging technologies in hospitals and universities, as customers and
advisers of Kodak. We look forward to uncovering this important but largely, as yet, undiscovered history.
Museum Victoria
GPO Box 666 Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia
Telephone +61 3 8341 7777
Website http://museum.vic.gov.au/
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Early Memories of Kodak
Senior Curator Fiona Kinsey also interviewed a number of former Kodak staff this year, including some
long-serving staff with very early memories of the company, who joined the company in the 1930s and 40s:
Noel Monteith started at Kodak in 1939 as an office boy at the Collins St retail store, but later worked out of
Abbotsford as the company insurance officer, then was manager of the Employee Benefits Department. He
retired while at Coburg, after 43 years, in 1983, and had an excellent recall of the company. His father had
also worked at Kodak, serving 31 years from 1906 until 1937, being first involved in black and white
processing then bringing the Kodachrome process for motion picture film back to Australia from the USA.
Marie De Camara, nee McKinley, started at Abbotsford in 1946, but spent most of her working life at
Burnley, with some time also at Coburg, from where she retired in 1981. She worked largely in the Powder
and Solution Department at Burnley, which was later known as the Photochemical Department at Coburg.
Marie McKinley in the Powder and Solution Department at Burnley, circa 1960s
Pat Hogan joined Kodak in 1941 and then spent several years in the army before returning to Kodak where
he worked as an accountant for Head Office. He was later promoted to the executive role of Company
Secretary before retiring in 1981.
Noel Swan joined Kodak in 1941 and worked in Developing & Printing at Abbotsford, with a stint in the VMail Department, which was operational during World War 2, then joined the air force before returning to
Kodak for a few years after the war. He then left the company to take up other roles.
Brian Flynn started work in the emulsion making department in 1987, where he was employed for 17 years
until he was made redundant when the Coburg factory closed down in 2004.
Cassandra Twomey and Bruce & Dot McKay discussed their family business, McKay Dairy, which
sourced some of its milk from the nearby McKay dairy farm, which was owned by their relatives. Kodak built
its Distribution Centre on the McKay’s farm land, in 1979.
Museum Victoria
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Telephone +61 3 8341 7777
Website http://museum.vic.gov.au/
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Graham Francis, (who was interviewed by Hannah Perkins), started as an office boy at Abbotsford in 1939.
In 1941 he was called up to the army, but returned to his job at Kodak in 1946. He studied accounting at
night, and worked for a time in Accounts Payable, but then became a buyer for Kodak, a role which he
continued in until he retired in 1972 after 41 years.
Walter Whitworth started work at Kodak in 1946 and left about 1952. He worked as a maintenance
mechanic in the Kodak garage, but also drove the company coal truck as well as driving executive staff
when their usual driver was away. He additionally drove the football and cricket teams to their games on
weekends, and along with others, drove a range of staff to work during the 9 week transport strike in 1950,
to keep the factory operational.
Walter played the position of ruck for the Kodak ‘Australian Rules’ football team and in 1949 he kicked the
winning goal in the grand final match at the Brunswick Football Oval, handing Kodak the VFASD 'C' Grade
premiership. Walter kindly donated the premiership pennant flag and several photographs relating to the
game and his working life at Kodak.
MM 138310 Kodak Australasia Pty Ltd, Premiership Winning Football Team, Melbourne, 1949. Walter Whitworth is at
bottom left.
STUDENT VOLUNTEERS
Our volunteer Natasha Mian, who worked with us in previous years and has now finished her university
studies in Arts Curatorship, has put the finishing touches to the Advertising Scrapbook project. All of the
scrapbooks, about 100 of them, now have their details recorded in our database and soon will be online.
Claire Liersch, one of our other volunteers, is studying a Master of Cultural Heritage (Honours) at Deakin
University and joined the volunteer team in March. During this time she has been conducting research into
Kodak Australasia’s early business history, in particular the allocation of company shares to various
stakeholders.
Museum Victoria
GPO Box 666 Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia
Telephone +61 3 8341 7777
Website http://museum.vic.gov.au/
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Claire was drawn to the Kodak Heritage Collection Archives Project as an opportunity to gain new museum
industry skills in collection research and to contribute to an increased understanding of an important
Australian company.
Claire Liersch at work, seeking out the details of the Kodak Australasia balance books
Dana Kells, who is currently undertaking a postgraduate degree in Arts Management at Deakin University,
has joined us one day a week to help with Collection Management. Dana has a keen interest in
photography – both in the history of photography, and its practice. This has also been an opportunity to gain
experience handling and caring for museum collection objects. So far she has rehoused a large portion of
Kodak business ledgers, barcoded hundreds of objects, audited products and taken lots of great
photographs for Collections Online. She commented that “Working with the vast number of objects in this
collection has given me a greater understanding of Kodak’s significant presence in Australia, as well as the
development of photography throughout the years. With every object, I learn a little bit more!”
COLLECTION PROJECTS
Business Archives
As mentioned above, Claire is giving us a detailed inventory and audit of the business ledgers and journals.
Additionally, Pat Hogan (former Kodak Company Secretary) visited the collection in August and assisted us
to identify various methods of Kodak’s record keeping and decipher the language of accountants. He has
also turned handwriting sleuth, and helped to identify some early book-keeping entries and signatures. We
also interviewed Graham Francis, who worked for the company for forty years, many of those spent in
Accounts Payable. Both his and Pat’s oral history recording will provide a great deal of contextual
information for the Business Archives.
Museum Victoria
GPO Box 666 Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia
Telephone +61 3 8341 7777
Website http://museum.vic.gov.au/
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Motion Film
For a couple of days a week, from June to September 2014, Phil Masters, a conservation-trained specialist
in archival motion film re-housing, digitised and documented 66 Kodak films from the Collection. This is a
brilliant result. Now we have digital access recordings of these 16mm films and they have been carefully
wound onto new archival canisters to best help preserve them for the future. They have also been dated
and condition reported. While the digital copies Phil made are access-quality films only, meaning they are
fairly low resolution, we have the images and audio available to us now to more fully complete database
records, conduct targeted research, and share them with the public. Highlights of the digitization include:
-
“Burnley Scenes” – inside footage of the Burnley factory, in colour, showing production lines,
machinery and staff at work.
-
Several episodes of the Camera Corner series, circa mid 1960s, presented by Kodak Technical
Sales Supervisor, Eric Merton. These were instructional 5 minute segments filmed in local
Melbourne studios for evening television. In them, Eric instructs a young woman, ‘Jenny’, how to
take photographs and movies, how to develop and edit them. This is really early Australian television
– rare footage likely found nowhere else. Hannah is particularly interested in knowing more about
Eric Merton and his work, so if anyone has any information, please contact her (details below).
-
“Highlights and Shadows” a promotional film from the Eastman Kodak Marketing Training Centre in
Rochester, 1939. It is a grand celebration of the photographic industry, full of flamboyant language
but ultimately reflecting the productivity and success of the company at that time. It features footage
from the factory and processing labs, but also shows the wide uses of photography in various
industries and arts; all of this backed with an orchestral soundtrack and enthusiastic narrator. There
is a similar film made by Kodak Limited, London, in the 1960s titled “Behind Your Snapshot”.
-
A large set of Eastman Kodak ‘Test Procedure’ films made by the Department of Manufacturing
Experiments, Kodak Park, Rochester, which appear to date from the late 1920s. These were silent
films showing step-by-step testing procedures for quality control and product research. Titles include
‘Lint Count’ Parts 1 and 2, ‘Mushiness’, ‘Sheet Film Static’ and ‘Wash Water Melting Point’ among
many others. These are rare, significant and highly informative films about the technical
specifications of Kodak film in the early 20th century.
Phil particularly enjoyed the early technical films. He gave a presentation to some former Kodak staff about
his project, which provided him with an opportunity to share these films with an audience who understood
their historical value. The Kodak motion film digitisation project was completed in September but there are
some more films yet to be recorded so we hope to continue this project again in the future.
We are still seeking volunteers from various areas of Kodak to assist in transcribing our motion
films and adding data. This involves watching a DVD and writing notes about the content of the film.
If you are interested, we urge you to contact Hannah Perkins at [email protected] or
write to her at GPO Box 666, Melbourne, VIC 3001.
Museum Victoria
GPO Box 666 Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia
Telephone +61 3 8341 7777
Website http://museum.vic.gov.au/
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FTIR Hazardous Substance Testing
Most Kodak sheet negatives and motion picture films have clear notch codes or other markings which
enable accurate identification and dating of film types. However, some sheet negatives in the Kodak
Heritage Collection were a mystery as to their composition. Material Scientist Rosemary Goodall, from the
Museum’s Conservation Department, helped us to identify some suspicious looking sheet negatives which
appeared to be degrading cellulose nitrate but which had unclear or seemingly misleading notch codes.
Rosemary used an FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) spectrometer to identify the molecular make-up of the
underlying film base. The results are plotted on a chart with peaks indicating the infrared absorption levels
and wavelengths of different chemical compounds (see the chart shown below).
It was difficult with many of the negatives to read anything beyond the thick gelatin layer. Some negatives
had the tiniest of scratches, however, which enabled us to scan the underlying layers and identify if they
had a nitrate or acetate base. It is important for us at the Museum to store acetate and nitrate base film
separately to avoid the catalytic deterioration of either substance.
Rosemary’s test results have helped inform how the films are rehoused in the cool store and how they are
4000
3500
3000
MM 138449 neg corner damaged E 1_20140805.0
2500
2000
Wavenumber cm-1
MM 138449 neg corner damaged E 1
1500
ATR
1000
838
779
754
689
601
556
518
498
452
1024
969
1276
1232
1185
1160
1542
1489
1451
1373
1638
1732
2969
2921
3305
handled, and her testing will assist us in identifying materials in the future.
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5/08/2014
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A spectrum for one of the Kodak nitrate negatives.
Museum Victoria
GPO Box 666 Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia
Telephone +61 3 8341 7777
Website http://museum.vic.gov.au/
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ACQUISITION HIGHLIGHTS
“I’ll Give You My Card”
We are building quite the collection of Kodak business cards through our Oral History acquisitions. The
cards show how the Kodak Company took advantage of its core business, ie photography, to visually
present its staff and promote its business - we see the face of the person on the card, as well as read of
their position in the company. It presents a strong message to clients and business partners.
HT 36445, HT 36446, HT 36517, HT 36518, HT 36438, and HT 36441
One of the interviewees who contributed to our Oral History project, John Allen, Managing Director Kodak
Australasia Pty Ltd 1999-2004, told Oral Historian Lesley Alves that his Kodak business card was a great
conversation starter when he met business executives from other companies:
Sometimes I'd have to go to meetings, go to a luncheon or whatever, where somebody would be talking. So
you'd get there and you'd go through this routine where you hand out your calling-card. You could be sitting
at a table with say eight blokes - typically they were always blokes - and you'd hand your cards out, and
when they got my one - not necessarily my card but the Kodak card - they'd say, "Oh, Kodak!" and they'd all
start talking about Kodak. In terms of where you had eight people who didn't know each other, suddenly
there was a friendly positive thing and it was because their association with Kodak was all to do with family
photos and memories, it was all positive […] Sometimes they would all be talking about Kodak, I wouldn't
have to say anything. But no other company even got a mention. They'd happily talk about Kodak; they'd
relate their Kodak moments - which is unusual for blokes.
Museum Victoria
GPO Box 666 Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia
Telephone +61 3 8341 7777
Website http://museum.vic.gov.au/
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Friendships
The Oral History project is also helping us to gather more objects that represent the personal connections
formed through Kodak – the friends and family of the workplace. We love all of the photos of dances and
dinners, tea breaks and friendly faces.
MM 138563 – Kodak Double-K Square Dance Club, Abbotsford, circa 1950
MM 137288 and MM137289 – In the office, having a cuppa…
Building 8 of the Kodak factory in Coburg, around 1969-1970. Graham Brown is at right.
Museum Victoria
GPO Box 666 Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia
Telephone +61 3 8341 7777
Website http://museum.vic.gov.au/
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KODAK RESEARCH TRIP TO USA AND CANADA
In October 2014, Senior Curator Fiona Kinsey travelled to the USA and Canada on a 24 day research trip,
funded by Museum Victoria and Kodak Australasia. The trip consisted of 2 Countries, 3 Cities (New York
City, Rochester and Toronto), 500 Overland Miles, 1 Amtrak Train, 2 Greyhound Buses, 16 Museums , 2
Kodak Factory Site Tours, several Kodak Collections, 1 Conference, thousands of Photographs and Scans,
and lots of Conversations with Collectors, Curators & Collection Managers and former Eastman Kodak staff.
Fiona visited numerous museums in New York to examine current best practice in storage and display,
including the Photographic Conservation Department and the Photography Curatorial Department at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as the Museum of the City of New York, and the Museum of the Moving
Image, where she met with curatorial, conservation and collection management staff.
Fiona then travelled to Rochester, upstate New York, to attend the PhotoHistory XVI Symposium which was
hosted at George Eastman House, where she made many useful connections with photography
researchers and former Eastman Kodak staff. Fiona was also involved in a Kodak Collections Special
Interest Group meeting at the symposium that she helped to organise, attended by Kodak collections staff
from the UK, US, Canada and Australia. The symposium organisers, who were former Kodak staff,
extended great hospitality to Fiona while she was in Rochester, hosting dinners and a tour of the city.
Fiona Kinsey at the PhotoHistory Symposium, Rochester, 11 October 2014, with the Director of George Eastman
House Museum, Dr. Bruce Barnes (far right) and Curator of Technology, Todd Gustavson (second from left).
While in Rochester, Fiona conducted research at George Eastman House (GEH), making scans of over
1000 pages of correspondence from Thomas Baker and JJ Rouse to George Eastman. In addition,
hundreds of outgoing letters from George Eastman that had already been scanned were supplied by GEH.
These letters will be an invaluable resource for upcoming research into Thomas Baker and the early history
of the Baker & Rouse merger with Kodak. Fiona also viewed the technology, photography and George
Eastman collections with curatorial and collection staff, toured the conservation laboratory, and enjoyed the
various exhibitions on display in George Eastman’s house and the custom built exhibition galleries.
A highlight of the visit to Rochester was a visit to the Kodak Park factory, now known as Eastman Business
Park, where Fiona and a small group of PhotoHistory delegates were given a tour by the Director of the
Park, Michael Alt, and Kelly Mandarano, Kodak’s GECF Communications Director. The tour group was
taken on a minibus tour around the extensive site, and also walked through areas inside the factory where
film splitting and perforating were happening.
Museum Victoria
GPO Box 666 Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia
Telephone +61 3 8341 7777
Website http://museum.vic.gov.au/
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Eastman Business Park, Rochester, USA
Eastman Business Park Tour – left to right, Fiona Kinsey, Nick Graver, Dr George Layne, Ali Feser, Sharon
Bloemendaal, Bob Shanebrook, and Michael Alt (Director of Eastman Business Park)
The Kodak Rochester tour was complemented by a tour in Toronto to the now vacant site of the former
Kodak Canada factory, with staff from Ryerson University. While in Toronto, Fiona also conducted research
in the Kodak Canada collection which is held in the Archives & Special Collections at Ryerson University
Library.
Museum Victoria
GPO Box 666 Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia
Telephone +61 3 8341 7777
Website http://museum.vic.gov.au/
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Kodak Canada collection material at Archives & Special Collections at Ryerson University Library
The research trip was very successful and some great outcomes were achieved. Important contacts have
been made with photographic curators, conservators and collection staff at a range of highly regarded
museums in North America and Canada, and existing relationships with Kodak collection staff were
enhanced by our face-to-face meetings. Most significantly, the research Fiona conducted in Rochester and
Toronto enabled her to identify key similarities and differences between the Canadian, American and
Australian Kodak collections, and conversations with the staff in these various Kodak collections sparked off
proposals of some collaborative projects, which we hope will come to fruition in the next few years.
SEASONS GREETINGS
We wish all of our Kodak friends the best for the festive season, and we look forward to working with you
next year.
Museum Victoria
GPO Box 666 Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia
Telephone +61 3 8341 7777
Website http://museum.vic.gov.au/
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MM 137976, Glass Negative - Kodak Australasia Ltd, Christmas Shopfront Display, Block Arcade 284 Collins Street, Melbourne, 1911 - 1920
Museum Victoria
GPO Box 666 Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia
Telephone +61 3 8341 7777
Website http://museum.vic.gov.au/
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