Color photographs in the 1950s

[angela146]

When did color photography move from the "enthusiast" to the "novice"?

By "enthusiast" I mean someone with a 35mm camera, F stops, lenses and maybe a light meter.

By "novice" I mean someone with a camera that has a non-removable single-focus lens.

My surfing of Wikipedia tells me that the Kodak "Instamatic" debuted in 1963 but I'm wondering if there was something before that. Did the "brownie," for example, have color film?

Here's the context: a friend of mine, born in the early 1950s, was talking about her childhood pictures. I assumed they had to have been in black and white, but she said "I'm not *that* old!".

Assuming that we are talking about pictures taken circa 1958, would that imply that her parents were on the cutting edge? Or did most families in the late 1950s take color pictures?

My parents were born in 1946 and I don't remember any pictures of them in color before they were married.

I was born in 1975 and I don't think any of my childhood photos were in black and white.

 

[tickledkitty]

I was born in 1964, and my early pics are in black and white, probably for about 2 years. After that, they're all colored.

 

[R. Richard]

I don't know if this is on topic or not, but there are a lot of software tools that will let you 'colorize' black and white photos. Google it up!

 

[3113]

When did color photography move from the "enthusiast" to the "novice"?

By "enthusiast" I mean someone with a 35mm camera, F stops, lenses and maybe a light meter.

By "novice" I mean someone with a camera that has a non-removable single-focus lens.

My surfing of Wikipedia tells me that the Kodak "Instamatic" debuted in 1963 but I'm wondering if there was something before that. Did the "brownie," for example, have color film?

Color Photography has, actually, been around since the 19th century (not including tinted and hand-colored photos). The article noted places the first color photograph at 1861.

And here's a History of Photography Timeline. The black-and-white brownie box appeared in 1900. The first commercial color film appeared in 1907. But from what this timeline says, multi-layer color film really didn't come into being till WWII. What you're talking about for 1963 is the first *instant* color film.

*But* in answer to the question, what this all means is that, yes, prior to 1963 most photos in your average photo album would have most certainly been in black-and-white. A "novice" who liked tech novelties might have had a color camera, or a family might have gone to a professional photographer for a special color, holiday photo, but the vast majority of casual home photos would all be black-and-white prior to '63, because color cameras would have been expensive, and it would have been harder to find a place to process color photography prior to then.

 

[angela146]

Thanks!

 

[Eluard]

Color Photography has, actually, been around since the 19th century (not including tinted and hand-colored photos). The article noted places the first color photograph at 1861.

And here's a History of Photography Timeline. The black-and-white brownie box appeared in 1900. The first commercial color film appeared in 1907. But from what this timeline says, multi-layer color film really didn't come into being till WWII. What you're talking about for 1963 is the first *instant* color film.

*But* in answer to the question, what this all means is that, yes, prior to 1963 most photos in your average photo album would have most certainly been in black-and-white. A "novice" who liked tech novelties might have had a color camera, or a family might have gone to a professional photographer for a special color, holiday photo, but the vast majority of casual home photos would all be black-and-white prior to '63, because color cameras would have been expensive, and it would have been harder to find a place to process color photography prior to then.

Yes, this is spot-on. The friend who said "I'm not that old" doesn't realise that her parents were considerably ahead of the curve — they must have been enthusiasts or serious amatuers.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Polaroid cameras were available in the Fifties, but I don't remember if you could get them in color or not. Color film was available to use in your Brownie, even when I was a child, but it was very expensive and the color was not good quality. All of my childhood pics are in black and white.

 

[Edward Teach]

When did color photography move from the "enthusiast" to the "novice"?

By "enthusiast" I mean someone with a 35mm camera, F stops, lenses and maybe a light meter.

By "novice" I mean someone with a camera that has a non-removable single-focus lens.

My surfing of Wikipedia tells me that the Kodak "Instamatic" debuted in 1963 but I'm wondering if there was something before that. Did the "brownie," for example, have color film?

Here's the context: a friend of mine, born in the early 1950s, was talking about her childhood pictures. I assumed they had to have been in black and white, but she said "I'm not *that* old!".

Assuming that we are talking about pictures taken circa 1958, would that imply that her parents were on the cutting edge? Or did most families in the late 1950s take color pictures?

My parents were born in 1946 and I don't remember any pictures of them in color before they were married.

I was born in 1975 and I don't think any of my childhood photos were in black and white.

All film was relatively expensive and having it devleoped was expensive. Color film cost even more to buy and develop than B&W so cost was a big factor.

 

[Weird Harold]

My surfing of Wikipedia tells me that the Kodak "Instamatic" debuted in 1963 but I'm wondering if there was something before that. Did the "brownie," for example, have color film?
...
My parents were born in 1946 and I don't remember any pictures of them in color before they were married.

My sister had a "Girl Scout" version of the "Brownie" that used "120" film -- most of her pictures were in B/W because of the cost of processing, but Kodacolor (print) film was available -- Kodacolor film was first released in 1942.

My sister is a contemporary of your parents, and I have some color prints from the late fifties (ca. 56-58) and early sixties; both from her Brownie and from Dad's 35mm, although most of Dad's pictures were Ektachrome (tm)color slides instead of prints.

 

[angela146]

My sister is a contemporary of your parents, and I have some color prints from the late fifties (ca. 56-58) and early sixties; both from her Brownie and from Dad's 35mm, although most of Dad's pictures were Ektachrome (tm)color slides instead of prints.

Interesting... I presume color slides might have been much less expensive than prints since you wouldn't have had the expense of printing and developing on paper.

I'll have to ask her if the childhood pictures were slides or prints. Maybe someone who wanted to do color would have taken slides to counteract some of the cost.

But I guess what you are saying is that the transition to color for casual (non-enthusiast) photos started in the mid to late fifties with maybe slides tipping sooner.

So, if she's "not that old" she's pretty close and maybe her dad/mom was ahead of the curve.

Thank you all!

 

[3113]

Interesting... I presume color slides might have been much less expensive than prints since you wouldn't have had the expense of printing and developing on paper.

Ah, yes. That was the running joke throughout the late 50's and most of the 60's (not that I was old enough to suffer through it, but you see it in movies and television shows)--you went to someone's home and they forced you to sit on their uncomfortable couch and view slides of their summer vacation in Yosemite--with commentary, of course. And the joke was heightened by the fact that half the slides were upsidedown and a quarter of them refused to drop down. So the slide machine would click and whirl and you'd get nothing. "Oh, let me fix that...." the host would say, as his guests, in agony over an hour of seeing pictures of their hosts smiling and waving before trees and geysers, contemplated murder-suicide to escape the torture.

 

[starrkers]

Ah, yes. That was the running joke throughout the late 50's and most of the 60's (not that I was old enough to suffer through it, but you see it in movies and television shows)--you went to someone's home and they forced you to sit on their uncomfortable couch and view slides of their summer vacation in Yosemite--with commentary, of course. And the joke was heightened by the fact that half the slides were upsidedown and a quarter of them refused to drop down. So the slide machine would click and whirl and you'd get nothing. "Oh, let me fix that...." the host would say, as his guests, in agony over an hour of seeing pictures of their hosts smiling and waving before trees and geysers, contemplated murder-suicide to escape the torture.

You've spent time at my house, haven't you?

 

[oggbashan]

Kodak Colorsnap

My parents had a Kodak Colorsnap that took 35mm slides on an 828 film. I still have it somewhere.

It was designed for amateurs. There was a dial on the back that gave suggested settings (not f8 1/125) but simple sunny/overcast/cloudy codes.

They used it from the early 1950s until the late 1960s.

The Kodak films were bought with inclusive developing. At the end of a film you just put the roll in a supplied envelope and posted it to the local Kodak agents. The agents would return mounted slides.

At the same time Viewmaster were producing their Personal Stereo Camera. That took matched pairs of colour stereo images on standard 35mm Kodakchrome. One could either have the film developed locally but NOT cut and then cut and mount the stereo pairs yourself - a very precise and fiddly business - or send to specialists who would develop and mount the pictures in on reels showing 7 stereo pairs. The Viewmaster was an amateur system but expensive.

Kodakchrome was available from the late 1930s but expensive. Until the early 1950s it was only used by enthusiasts - except for the Colorsnap system.

Og

 

[TxRad]

Ah, yes. That was the running joke throughout the late 50's and most of the 60's (not that I was old enough to suffer through it, but you see it in movies and television shows)--you went to someone's home and they forced you to sit on their uncomfortable couch and view slides of their summer vacation in Yosemite--with commentary, of course. And the joke was heightened by the fact that half the slides were upsidedown and a quarter of them refused to drop down. So the slide machine would click and whirl and you'd get nothing. "Oh, let me fix that...." the host would say, as his guests, in agony over an hour of seeing pictures of their hosts smiling and waving before trees and geysers, contemplated murder-suicide to escape the torture.

But there was always the off chance that the family spent their summer vacation at a nudist resort..... and then......

It happens.....

 

[NoJo]

My family pics from the late 50's are either all in "127" format black and white, or 35mm color slides.

Color prints were available, but very expensive, so slides were more common in them days.


I got the new instmatic "126 format" when it came out, for my birthday. I believe my first ever photo was an extreme close-up of my cat.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

Ah, yes. That was the running joke throughout the late 50's and most of the 60's (not that I was old enough to suffer through it, but you see it in movies and television shows)--you went to someone's home and they forced you to sit on their uncomfortable couch and view slides of their summer vacation in Yosemite--with commentary, of course. And the joke was heightened by the fact that half the slides were upsidedown and a quarter of them refused to drop down. So the slide machine would click and whirl and you'd get nothing. "Oh, let me fix that...." the host would say, as his guests, in agony over an hour of seeing pictures of their hosts smiling and waving before trees and geysers, contemplated murder-suicide to escape the torture.

Kind of like many powerpoint experiences now.