Could you tell me the meaning of this code please?

[blanca1028]

Hi. I was wondering if anyone could tell me the meaning of the code on the back of a photograph printed at Eckerds in the early 2000's. This is the code:

ECKERD0706<No. 3A> 003
530 01** 1-1-1 252(027)

I am honestly most interested in finding out if 1-1-1 means the date. I searched the internet and was unable to find a definitive answer. I did find however a reference to your site and the knowledge of its members and I was hoping someone could answer my question. Thank you so much in advance. I really am very very curious to find out if this indeed the date. Thank you!

 

[pentaxuser]

I take it that Eckerds are no longer in business to ask? Do, what I assume to be a U.S. business, work on what may be 1 Jan 2001? New Year's Day is not a public holiday?

pentaxuser

 

[blanca1028]

Hey- thanks so much for your reply! Yes you are right; Eckerds closed in 2004. It was a drug store chain that was sold to CVS. CVS is still around. That's a good point about it being a public holiday and you would think the store would have been closed- however, a lot of times certain stores (like a pharmacy/drug store for example) def WOULD stay open. It just depends. Basically it's not surprising that it was open. Regular offices and stuff are closed usually. Stores are hit or miss. So-- do you think that's 1-1-1 refers to the date? Jan 1, 2001? Could it be anything else do you think?? Again I appreciate your input!!

 

[winger]

1-1-1 may have been the date, but it may have been the default setting if the actual date wasn't set up. I wouldn't think an Eckerds would have been open and printing on New Year's Day (though it's possible, if unlikely).

I don't think any of my prints were done at Eckerd's, but maybe on a similar machine. If I remember tomorrow, I'll go drag some out and take a look.

 

[blanca1028]

Thanks! That is what the other person said too- that Eckerds probably would have been closed on New Years. If the date were set up though, is that where it would go? I do think it's possible that the store was open on New Years Day... I worked for many years in retail..lol you would be surprised! It's a good point though. However, this is interesting...in the photo, it is festive-looking and there is a present sitting on the counter. It definitely looks like it could have been around that time of year for sure! But yeah, if you could check on some of your old prints...I would appreciate it! Thank you for your reply!

 

[blanca1028]

 

[MattKing]

"1-1-1" may very well be codes relating to the automatic printing adjustments made by the printer.

 

[r-brian]

"1-1-1" may very well be codes relating to the automatic printing adjustments made by the printer.

Matt's correct. That's the setting for magenta-yellow-cyan. 1 means normal setting, no color adjustment.

 

[blanca1028]

Got you. I was wondering that too to be honest. Man. I was really hoping it meant Jan 1, 2001. Weird thing though? The backprint image on the photo is Kodak PAPER (systems logo)...it was supposedly in use or manufactured and sold I guess by Kodak from approximately 6/97 until 6/00... as far as I can tell that seems to be correct... So let's say this picture was taken in 12/01, the drug store (Eckerds in this case) most likely would not be using the old paper anymore, would they? That's like a year and a half after Kodak rolled out the next version of photo paper. What do you think? That's an entirely different thing there that I found...Am I right that this backprint would suggest it had been printed somewhere around 2000? Or early 2001 even? But def not late 2001 I would think.

 

[blanca1028]

 

[fdonadio]

@blanca1028,

Do you have any other print from this same batch to compare the writing on the back? That way you can get a more "precise" guesswork!

 

[MattKing]

So let's say this picture was taken in 12/01, the drug store (Eckerds in this case) most likely would not be using the old paper anymore, would they? That's like a year and a half after Kodak rolled out the next version of photo paper. What do you think?

It has been a while since I worked with roll paper, but if I recall correctly, it wasn't unusual to receive paper that had a "Develop Before" date a couple of years down the way. So a drugstore chain might very well be using the older version of paper after a newer version had been introduced.