Agfa photo-paper blast from the past!

[MattKing]

Thanks, I didn't think it would take that long for it to be recognised for what it is

pentaxuser

Most of us saw who posted it, and assumed .....

 

[John Wiegerink]

Most of us saw who posted it, and assumed .....

I'll second that wink Matt......

 

[Peter Schrager]

I caught it the minute I read it. I know I have some Irish blood in me so maybe that helps pickup on dry British humor. My mom's name was Goodsell and she always told me it was Irish anyway? I don't know for sure, and I really don't care if it is or not.
We talk about old papers and how great they were, and some of them really were great, but many were no better or maybe worse, than many of what's out there now. My concerns when it comes to older papers is their shelf life. I'd take a chance on buying some older Oriental Seagull if it was stored properly, since I know it has a pretty good shelf life as to low fog levels. However, I've been burned on buying some of the other old papers.

As I've scooped up many boxes of old papers and you are 100% right that many were useless when still usable
Paula Strand once said that as soon as he finds a paper he likes they discontinue it!!

 

[Peter Schrager]

As I've scooped up many boxes of old papers and you are 100% right that many were useless when still usable
Paula Strand once said that as soon as he finds a paper he likes they discontinue it!!

Paul Strand

 

[Sharktooth]

I was working in the basement today and found an old stash of photo paper, as well as some film.

I have a couple of 25 sheet packs of 8x10 Portriga Rapid in grade 3. It still had a couple of price labels, and I think the price labels had a date from 1978. The regular price was $9.95, and the sale price was $8.45. These would be in Canadian dollars.

I also had a large package of Kodak Ektamatic SC paper that was 16x20. I'd forgotten all about this, but it jogged my memory when I saw it. This was a B&W stabilization paper, meaning it would be developed in a special stabilization processor, which was only two baths, and provided very quick prints. It's something a newspaper might have used to get quick proofs. It might also have been used by wedding photographers for proofs. The images were just stabilized, so they would fade quickly. I used to use this paper in regular B&W paper chemistry with regular fixing. It was nice, since it produced very nice deep blacks. It was also relatively inexpensive, if I remember correctly. The only disadvantage was that it was on a fairly thin base paper.

The last one was Kodak Kodabrome II RC. It was a 25 sheet pack of 8x10, and still had a price tag from Woolco for $16.10. I don't know the date, however, so I'm just guessing at sometime in the 80s. I don't think anyone would miss this paper.

I also found a box of Kodak Pan Masking Film in 8x10 from the early 80s, and a box of Kodak Royal Pan film in 5x7 from 1978.

 

[Don_ih]

@Sharktooth - good finds and I'd expect about half of it is still ok. The Agfa is most likely good. The pan masking film will be like new, the Royal Pain (not a typo) will probably develop a nice shade of tar. The Kodabrome II is probably good for photos of clouds on foggy days. I guess you could test the Ektamatic paper?

I kinda miss Woolco. Wouldn't it be great to walk into a department store and buy enlarging paper and chemicals?

 

[Sharktooth]

@Sharktooth - good finds and I'd expect about half of it is still ok. The Agfa is most likely good. The pan masking film will be like new, the Royal Pain (not a typo) will probably develop a nice shade of tar. The Kodabrome II is probably good for photos of clouds on foggy days. I guess you could test the Ektamatic paper?

I kinda miss Woolco. Wouldn't it be great to walk into a department store and buy enlarging paper and chemicals?

I used to work in the camera department at Woolco for a short time in 1976. Definitely a different era. I was surprised that the Kodabrome II RC was almost twice the price of the Portriga Rapid. Both were 25 sheet packs of 8x10. I guess it was the due to the big inflation due to gas shortages in the late 70s. I would have used the Pan Masking film to make masks for printing colour transparencies on Cibachrome or Ektachrome paper. I have no idea why I bought the Royal Pan film, unless I was also trying it for masking too.