# 100
The name…
January 8, 2012
IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray
Sometimes, Americans are so familiar with a particular company that its very name evokes precisely what it is. Take, example, for facial tissue. You never heard someone ask for a Kimberly Clark, but they did ask for a Kleenex. It is close to certain that the Georgia pharmacist who concocted that first batch of Coca-Cola never imagined that “a burger and a coke” would survive as a standard phrase for decades.
And so it is with a proud old firm about to close its doors. Yet, its success stemmed directly from a crude device of the 1500s — yes, 600 years ago! Yet, that first idea didn’t blossom into a tangible product until 1826.
The word “photography” comes from the Greek: photo (light) and graphein (to draw). Sir John Herschel first used the word in 1839. It is, in truth, a method of recording images by light on a sensitive material. That first fixed image was the result eight hours work by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. You may not be familiar with this name, but perhaps you will recognize the name of one of his French cohorts, Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre. Work was slow but another twelve years until he could cut the time to less than 30 minutes and keep the image from disappearing from view. Hence, he named his method after himself. Ah, yes, the daguerreotype.
New York City had more than 70 studios for Daguerre’s process by 1850. You may remember those early Civil War Photographs by Matthew Brady. Those images preserved for all time the horrors of war and the impact of black and white.
English inventor Frederick Wratten founded Wratten and Wainwright, one of the original photographic supply businesses. It was Wratten who, in 1878 invented “noodling”, the process of silver bromide gelatin emulsions before washing. Later, in 1906, Wratten, assisted by Dr. C. E. Kenneth Mees, invented the first panchromatic plates in England. Wratten, according to wide sources, is remembered more for his photographic filters. Yet today, they bear his name, Wratten Filters.
Enter a man named George Eastman, a boy forced to drop out of school at age 14 to support his mother and sisters, one of whom was severely handicapped. Starting at an insurance company messenger boy, he quickly moved up to filing and writing policies, increasing his original $3 to $5 a week. After five years, Rochester Savings Bank hired him and tripled his salary to more than $15 a week. At 24, he planned to travel to Santo Domingo and bought a complete photographic outfit that featured all the equipment of the “wet plate” days. As big as a microwave oven, he needed a heavy tripod and a tent to spread the emulsion on the plates before exposing them and quickly develop them before they dried out. In the end, he didn’t make that anticipated trip, but he became so enamored with photography that he sought to simply the complicated process.
He read everything he could get his hands on and learned that photographers in England were making their own emulsions. Their plates remained sensitive after drying and could be exposed on the photographer’s individual schedule. Working at the bank during the day and experimenting his mother’s kitchen at night, he toiled at his dream. The website explains that his mother said that some nights George was so tired to undress and slept on a blanket next to the kitchen stove. Early in 1880, after three long years of work, he had not only invented the formula but had also patented a machine for preparing large number of plates. George knew he had a hot item and saw the promise of marketing the plates to other photographers.
In April 1880, George leased the third floor of a building on State Street in Rochester, New York, and began the manufacturing process. One of his first purchases? A second-hand engine for $125. George is quoted as saying, “I only needed a one-horsepower, but I thought perhaps business would grow up to it. It was worth a chance. I took it.”
Facing failure when plates went bad, he replaced. Said George, “Making good on those plates took our last dollar, but what he had left was more important — reputation.”
The word “Kodak” was first registered as a trademark in 1888. Again, according to the company’s biography of George Eastman, here has been some fanciful speculation, from time to time, on how the name was originated. But the plain truth is that Eastman invented it out of thin air.
Sometimes, the story behind a name is as fascinating as the company itself. So it is with Kodak.
In George’s words, explained: “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.” Kodak’s distinctive yellow trade dress, which Eastman selected, is widely known throughout the world and is one of the company’s more valued assets.
Remember how much the English emulsion processes intrigued George? Remember Wratten and his filters? Well, in 1912, Eastman Kodak purchased the English company — Wratten’s company.
A firm supporter of his workers, he initiated profit sharing and retirement annuities — far ahead of major American companies at the time. Carl W. Ackerman wrote Eastman’s 1932 biography deemed Eastman a giant of his day and one who would not be recognized as such for many years.
His philanthropic interests included The Rochester Institute of Technology and M.I. T. in Massachusetts. The gift to M.I.T. was given anonymously, in the name of “Mr. Smith”. Dental health was close to his heart and he devised complete plans and financial resources for clinics in Rochester, London, Paris, Rome, Brussels and Stockholm.
When asked why he favored dental clinics, he replied, “I get more results for my money than in any other philanthropic scheme. It is a medical fact that children can have a better chance in life with better looks, better health and more vigor if the teeth, nose, throat and mouth are taken proper care of at the crucial time of childhood.”
If a smile is key to physical health, so, too, is inspiration. His love of music prompted him to establish The Eastman School of Music, a theater and a symphony orchestra. “It is fairly easy to employ skillful musicians. It is impossible to buy appreciation of music. Yet without a large body of people who get joy out of it, any attempt to develop musical resources of any city is doomed to failure,” he said. So his plan had a practical formula for exposing the public to music — with the result that the people of Rochester have for decades supported their own philharmonic orchestra.
Watching a company with such a rich history file for Chapter 11 is difficult.
Like Kleenex and Coke, we equate George’s product name with film itself: Kodak. The Kodak corporate website is awash with details on George Eastman’s life. But, did you know that the first casual reference to the Camera Obscura (+1000 on the Gregorian Calendar) was made by Aristotle in Problems (ca. 330BC). Aristotle questioned how the sun could make a circular image when it shone through a square hole. How far we have come….
Every marvelous invention has its lifespan, but it is particularly painful for many of us to see rolls of film fall to digital photography. Alas, about ten years ago, a service man swiped my little Brownie Hawkeye. A gift from my father, the box camera satin my office, complete with its original box. Proof is lacking, since I didn’t see him leave with it; but, suffice it to say, the Brownie was there the day he came and gone the next day. Enough of that…. there are thieves everywhere. I’m sure he thought he had a trophy. What he had, in fact, was a precious memory.
That tiny Kodak camera gave me a love for photography I treasure yet today. The thought of totally changing from 35mm film to Digital is a bit scary. The equipment is very different, yet the satisfaction is still there — that ability to relive a moment and hold on to loved ones no longer with me. Thank you, George Eastman, in the words of Bob Hope, “Thanks for the memories.” And for all those rolls and rolls of film….
(And thanks to the corporate website, a virtual treasure trove of information, much of which was not used in this column.)
Late Breaking News: Daniel Cooper, USA Today (today’s date):
It’s only January 10th and Kodak’s already having a terrible year: six days ago the beloved photography company was preparing for Chapter 11, but today its stock price leapt by 45 percent (and counting). The cause? The announcement of a new plan intended to pull the troubled company into the 21st century and, more importantly, into the black. It’s planning to simplify its business structure down to two divisions and reduce costs while pushing its successful range of printers. We’ve got the announcement after the break but hopefully we’ll see the century-old company live to see another day.
# 100
The name…
January 8, 2012
IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray
Sometimes, Americans are so familiar with a particular company that its very name evokes precisely what it is. Take, example, for facial tissue. You never heard someone ask for a Kimberly Clark, but they did ask for a Kleenex. It is close to certain that the Georgia pharmacist who concocted that first batch of Coca-Cola never imagined that “a burger and a coke” would survive as a standard phrase for decades.
And so it is with a proud old firm about to close its doors. Yet, its success stemmed directly from a crude device of the 1500s — yes, 600 years ago! Yet, that first idea didn’t blossom into a tangible product until 1826.
The word “photography” comes from the Greek: photo (light) and graphein (to draw). Sir John Herschel first used the word in 1839. It is, in truth, a method of recording images by light on a sensitive material. That first fixed image was the result eight hours work by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. You may not be familiar with this name, but perhaps you will recognize the name of one of his French cohorts, Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre. Work was slow but another twelve years until he could cut the time to less than 30 minutes and keep the image from disappearing from view. Hence, he named his method after himself. Ah, yes, the daguerreotype.
New York City had more than 70 studios for Daguerre’s process by 1850. You may remember those early Civil War Photographs by Matthew Brady. Those images preserved for all time the horrors of war and the impact of black and white.
English inventor Frederick Wratten founded Wratten and Wainwright, one of the original photographic supply businesses. It was Wratten who, in 1878 invented “noodling”, the process of silver bromide gelatin emulsions before washing. Later, in 1906, Wratten, assisted by Dr. C. E. Kenneth Mees, invented the first panchromatic plates in England. Wratten, according to wide sources, is remembered more for his photographic filters. Yet today, they bear his name, Wratten Filters.
Enter a man named George Eastman, a boy forced to drop out of school at age 14 to support his mother and sisters, one of whom was severely handicapped. Starting at an insurance company messenger boy, he quickly moved up to filing and writing policies, increasing his original $3 to $5 a week. After five years, Rochester Savings Bank hired him and tripled his salary to more than $15 a week. At 24, he planned to travel to Santo Domingo and bought a complete photographic outfit that featured all the equipment of the “wet plate” days. As big as a microwave oven, he needed a heavy tripod and a tent to spread the emulsion on the plates before exposing them and quickly develop them before they dried out. In the end, he didn’t make that anticipated trip, but he became so enamored with photography that he sought to simply the complicated process.
He read everything he could get his hands on and learned that photographers in England were making their own emulsions. Their plates remained sensitive after drying and could be exposed on the photographer’s individual schedule. Working at the bank during the day and experimenting his mother’s kitchen at night, he toiled at his dream. The website explains that his mother said that some nights George was so tired to undress and slept on a blanket next to the kitchen stove. Early in 1880, after three long years of work, he had not only invented the formula but had also patented a machine for preparing large number of plates. George knew he had a hot item and saw the promise of marketing the plates to other photographers.
In April 1880, George leased the third floor of a building on State Street in Rochester, New York, and began the manufacturing process. One of his first purchases? A second-hand engine for $125. George is quoted as saying, “I only needed a one-horsepower, but I thought perhaps business would grow up to it. It was worth a chance. I took it.”
Facing failure when plates went bad, he replaced. Said George, “Making good on those plates took our last dollar, but what he had left was more important — reputation.”
The word “Kodak” was first registered as a trademark in 1888. Again, according to the company’s biography of George Eastman, here has been some fanciful speculation, from time to time, on how the name was originated. But the plain truth is that Eastman invented it out of thin air.
Sometimes, the story behind a name is as fascinating as the company itself. So it is with Kodak.
In George’s words, explained: “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.” Kodak’s distinctive yellow trade dress, which Eastman selected, is widely known throughout the world and is one of the company’s more valued assets.
Remember how much the English emulsion processes intrigued George? Remember Wratten and his filters? Well, in 1912, Eastman Kodak purchased the English company — Wratten’s company.
A firm supporter of his workers, he initiated profit sharing and retirement annuities — far ahead of major American companies at the time. Carl W. Ackerman wrote Eastman’s 1932 biography deemed Eastman a giant of his day and one who would not be recognized as such for many years.
His philanthropic interests included The Rochester Institute of Technology and M.I. T. in Massachusetts. The gift to M.I.T. was given anonymously, in the name of “Mr. Smith”. Dental health was close to his heart and he devised complete plans and financial resources for clinics in Rochester, London, Paris, Rome, Brussels and Stockholm.
When asked why he favored dental clinics, he replied, “I get more results for my money than in any other philanthropic scheme. It is a medical fact that children can have a better chance in life with better looks, better health and more vigor if the teeth, nose, throat and mouth are taken proper care of at the crucial time of childhood.”
If a smile is key to physical health, so, too, is inspiration. His love of music prompted him to establish The Eastman School of Music, a theater and a symphony orchestra. “It is fairly easy to employ skillful musicians. It is impossible to buy appreciation of music. Yet without a large body of people who get joy out of it, any attempt to develop musical resources of any city is doomed to failure,” he said. So his plan had a practical formula for exposing the public to music — with the result that the people of Rochester have for decades supported their own philharmonic orchestra.
Watching a company with such a rich history file for Chapter 11 is difficult.
Like Kleenex and Coke, we equate George’s product name with film itself: Kodak. The Kodak corporate website is awash with details on George Eastman’s life. But, did you know that the first casual reference to the Camera Obscura (+1000 on the Gregorian Calendar) was made by Aristotle in Problems (ca. 330BC). Aristotle questioned how the sun could make a circular image when it shone through a square hole. How far we have come….
Every marvelous invention has its lifespan, but it is particularly painful for many of us to see rolls of film fall to digital photography. Alas, about ten years ago, a service man swiped my little Brownie Hawkeye. A gift from my father, the box camera satin my office, complete with its original box. Proof is lacking, since I didn’t see him leave with it; but, suffice it to say, the Brownie was there the day he came and gone the next day. Enough of that…. there are thieves everywhere. I’m sure he thought he had a trophy. What he had, in fact, was a precious memory.
That tiny Kodak camera gave me a love for photography I treasure yet today. The thought of totally changing from 35mm film to Digital is a bit scary. The equipment is very different, yet the satisfaction is still there — that ability to relive a moment and hold on to loved ones no longer with me. Thank you, George Eastman, in the words of Bob Hope, “Thanks for the memories.” And for all those rolls and rolls of film….
(And thanks to the corporate website, a virtual treasure trove of information, much of which was not used in this column.)
Late Breaking News: Daniel Cooper, USA Today (today’s date):
It’s only January 10th and Kodak’s already having a terrible year: six days ago the beloved photography company was preparing for Chapter 11, but today its stock price leapt by 45 percent (and counting). The cause? The announcement of a new plan intended to pull the troubled company into the 21st century and, more importantly, into the black. It’s planning to simplify its business structure down to two divisions and reduce costs while pushing its successful range of printers. We’ve got the announcement after the break but hopefully we’ll see the century-old company live to see another day.
# 100
The name…
January 8, 2012
IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray
Sometimes, Americans are so familiar with a particular company that its very name evokes precisely what it is. Take, example, for facial tissue. You never heard someone ask for a Kimberly Clark, but they did ask for a Kleenex. It is close to certain that the Georgia pharmacist who concocted that first batch of Coca-Cola never imagined that “a burger and a coke” would survive as a standard phrase for decades.
And so it is with a proud old firm about to close its doors. Yet, its success stemmed directly from a crude device of the 1500s — yes, 600 years ago! Yet, that first idea didn’t blossom into a tangible product until 1826.
The word “photography” comes from the Greek: photo (light) and graphein (to draw). Sir John Herschel first used the word in 1839. It is, in truth, a method of recording images by light on a sensitive material. That first fixed image was the result eight hours work by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. You may not be familiar with this name, but perhaps you will recognize the name of one of his French cohorts, Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre. Work was slow but another twelve years until he could cut the time to less than 30 minutes and keep the image from disappearing from view. Hence, he named his method after himself. Ah, yes, the daguerreotype.
New York City had more than 70 studios for Daguerre’s process by 1850. You may remember those early Civil War Photographs by Matthew Brady. Those images preserved for all time the horrors of war and the impact of black and white.
English inventor Frederick Wratten founded Wratten and Wainwright, one of the original photographic supply businesses. It was Wratten who, in 1878 invented “noodling”, the process of silver bromide gelatin emulsions before washing. Later, in 1906, Wratten, assisted by Dr. C. E. Kenneth Mees, invented the first panchromatic plates in England. Wratten, according to wide sources, is remembered more for his photographic filters. Yet today, they bear his name, Wratten Filters.
Enter a man named George Eastman, a boy forced to drop out of school at age 14 to support his mother and sisters, one of whom was severely handicapped. Starting at an insurance company messenger boy, he quickly moved up to filing and writing policies, increasing his original $3 to $5 a week. After five years, Rochester Savings Bank hired him and tripled his salary to more than $15 a week. At 24, he planned to travel to Santo Domingo and bought a complete photographic outfit that featured all the equipment of the “wet plate” days. As big as a microwave oven, he needed a heavy tripod and a tent to spread the emulsion on the plates before exposing them and quickly develop them before they dried out. In the end, he didn’t make that anticipated trip, but he became so enamored with photography that he sought to simply the complicated process.
He read everything he could get his hands on and learned that photographers in England were making their own emulsions. Their plates remained sensitive after drying and could be exposed on the photographer’s individual schedule. Working at the bank during the day and experimenting his mother’s kitchen at night, he toiled at his dream. The website explains that his mother said that some nights George was so tired to undress and slept on a blanket next to the kitchen stove. Early in 1880, after three long years of work, he had not only invented the formula but had also patented a machine for preparing large number of plates. George knew he had a hot item and saw the promise of marketing the plates to other photographers.
In April 1880, George leased the third floor of a building on State Street in Rochester, New York, and began the manufacturing process. One of his first purchases? A second-hand engine for $125. George is quoted as saying, “I only needed a one-horsepower, but I thought perhaps business would grow up to it. It was worth a chance. I took it.”
Facing failure when plates went bad, he replaced. Said George, “Making good on those plates took our last dollar, but what he had left was more important — reputation.”
The word “Kodak” was first registered as a trademark in 1888. Again, according to the company’s biography of George Eastman, here has been some fanciful speculation, from time to time, on how the name was originated. But the plain truth is that Eastman invented it out of thin air.
Sometimes, the story behind a name is as fascinating as the company itself. So it is with Kodak.
In George’s words, explained: “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.” Kodak’s distinctive yellow trade dress, which Eastman selected, is widely known throughout the world and is one of the company’s more valued assets.
Remember how much the English emulsion processes intrigued George? Remember Wratten and his filters? Well, in 1912, Eastman Kodak purchased the English company — Wratten’s company.
A firm supporter of his workers, he initiated profit sharing and retirement annuities — far ahead of major American companies at the time. Carl W. Ackerman wrote Eastman’s 1932 biography deemed Eastman a giant of his day and one who would not be recognized as such for many years.
His philanthropic interests included The Rochester Institute of Technology and M.I. T. in Massachusetts. The gift to M.I.T. was given anonymously, in the name of “Mr. Smith”. Dental health was close to his heart and he devised complete plans and financial resources for clinics in Rochester, London, Paris, Rome, Brussels and Stockholm.
When asked why he favored dental clinics, he replied, “I get more results for my money than in any other philanthropic scheme. It is a medical fact that children can have a better chance in life with better looks, better health and more vigor if the teeth, nose, throat and mouth are taken proper care of at the crucial time of childhood.”
If a smile is key to physical health, so, too, is inspiration. His love of music prompted him to establish The Eastman School of Music, a theater and a symphony orchestra. “It is fairly easy to employ skillful musicians. It is impossible to buy appreciation of music. Yet without a large body of people who get joy out of it, any attempt to develop musical resources of any city is doomed to failure,” he said. So his plan had a practical formula for exposing the public to music — with the result that the people of Rochester have for decades supported their own philharmonic orchestra.
Watching a company with such a rich history file for Chapter 11 is difficult.
Like Kleenex and Coke, we equate George’s product name with film itself: Kodak. The Kodak corporate website is awash with details on George Eastman’s life. But, did you know that the first casual reference to the Camera Obscura (+1000 on the Gregorian Calendar) was made by Aristotle in Problems (ca. 330BC). Aristotle questioned how the sun could make a circular image when it shone through a square hole. How far we have come….
Every marvelous invention has its lifespan, but it is particularly painful for many of us to see rolls of film fall to digital photography. Alas, about ten years ago, a service man swiped my little Brownie Hawkeye. A gift from my father, the box camera satin my office, complete with its original box. Proof is lacking, since I didn’t see him leave with it; but, suffice it to say, the Brownie was there the day he came and gone the next day. Enough of that…. there are thieves everywhere. I’m sure he thought he had a trophy. What he had, in fact, was a precious memory.
That tiny Kodak camera gave me a love for photography I treasure yet today. The thought of totally changing from 35mm film to Digital is a bit scary. The equipment is very different, yet the satisfaction is still there — that ability to relive a moment and hold on to loved ones no longer with me. Thank you, George Eastman, in the words of Bob Hope, “Thanks for the memories.” And for all those rolls and rolls of film….
(And thanks to the corporate website, a virtual treasure trove of information, much of which was not used in this column.)
Late Breaking News: Daniel Cooper, USA Today (today’s date):
It’s only January 10th and Kodak’s already having a terrible year: six days ago the beloved photography company was preparing for Chapter 11, but today its stock price leapt by 45 percent (and counting). The cause? The announcement of a new plan intended to pull the troubled company into the 21st century and, more importantly, into the black. It’s planning to simplify its business structure down to two divisions and reduce costs while pushing its successful range of printers. We’ve got the announcement after the break but hopefully we’ll see the century-old company live to see another day.