George Eastman & the first Kodak
By: Kayla Chambers
ABOUT: GEORGE EASTMAN
- He was a high school dropout, judged "not especially gifted" when measured against the academic standards of the day.
- He was the youngest of three children.
- His parents were Maria Kilbourn & George Washington Eastman.
- Tragedy struck when his father died, the college failed, & the family became financially distressed.
- He was poor, & supported his widowed mother, & his two sisters.
- One of his sisters were handicapped.
- His first job was at the age of 14 as an messenger for an insurance firm, $3 a week.
- A year later, his second job was as an office boy at another insurance firm where he was filing policies, & even wrote policies, $5 a week.
- He studied accounting at home evenings & in 1874, after 5 years in the insurance firm, he became junior clerk at Rochester Savings Rank where his salary tripled to more than $15 a week.
- Eastman died by his own hand (suicide) March 14, 1932 at the age of 77.
- He was modest, unassuming man...an inventor, a marketer, a global visionary, philanthropist & a champion of inclusion (state of being included).
The Amazing First Kodak Camera
Barrel Shutter
A picture of the barrel shutter.
Kodak Camera 1888
A pre~loaded camera with a roll of paper film.
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What did the first Kodak Camera look like?
- The Kodak camera was a small box camera
- Dry
- Transparent
- Flexible
- Had photographic film (or rolled photography film)
- The Kodak camera could use new film
Why is the Kodak Camera Significant?
It is very significant in history of amateur photography was the introduction of the #1 Kodak camera in 1888. Invented & marketed by George Eastman (1854~1932), a former bank clerk from Rochester, New York, the Kodak was a simple box camera that came loaded with a 100~exposure roll of film. It was the first "box" camera to become widely adopted by the public & the design became the archetype for box cameras.