Film processing bags?

wtburton · May 19, 2023

What is this? I have never seen any film box like this before. Were they literally just selling the box with the bag in it so you could mail it for processing? I found a few more examples, but none came in boxes...

upon closer inspection of the ebay listing, the box seems absurdly small! It would be impossible to contain a film roll. So this must be a box for just the bag, wow. Any more insight into these processing bags?

Don_ih · May 19, 2023

It may have been banded together with a roll of film and sold as a single purchase of film+developing (some people would want to buy the film on its own and develop it themselves or get someone local to do it). So you go to the store and buy this along with a roll of film, shoot your film, then use this to mail it to the lab.

wtburton · May 19, 2023

Don Heisz said:
It may have been banded together with a roll of film and sold as a single purchase of film+developing (some people would want to buy the film on its own and develop it themselves or get someone local to do it). So you go to the store and buy this along with a roll of film, shoot your film, then use this to mail it to the lab.

Thank you for the information! I have only seen included processing before, but I like that these were optional, thats pretty cool! It also makes me think about how many cool packaging spreads could be made with a a box meant to be banded with another.

wtburton · May 19, 2023

Another example I found on Ebay, selling just the box with a processing mailer bag. I wonder if these came with prints too?

Donald Qualls · May 19, 2023

wtburton said:
I wonder if these came with prints too?

Not from Ektachrome, they came back as mounted slides.

MattKing · May 19, 2023

These all pre-dated store displays with hooks that were designed for hanging cards.
I think back to some of the stores I worked in - a wall of shallow "nooks" - each nearly filled with individual boxes of film.
Or back in the time these are current with, boxes with processing mailers.
I couldn't find an internet image of this sort of wall for film boxes, but this one designed for wine may give you an idea:

wtburton · May 19, 2023

Donald Qualls said:
Not from Ektachrome, they came back as mounted slides.

Oh true! I forgot about that

wtburton · May 19, 2023

MattKing said:
These all pre-dated store displays with hooks that were designed for hanging cards.
I think back to some of the stores I worked in - a wall of shallow "nooks" - each nearly filled with individual boxes of film.
Or back in the time these are current with, boxes with processing mailers.
I couldn't find an internet image of this sort of wall for film boxes, but this one designed for wine may give you an idea:
View attachment 339161

I remember what your talking about! I have it stored in the back of my mind somewhere, despite never visiting, I think ive seen it in photos.

Speaking of which, why are photographs of camera stores so hard to come by?

Its my dream to visit these old stores... despite them being lost to time, and many went completely unphotographed too which is a pain for a reproduction work id like to do...

foc · May 20, 2023

See the film shelf on the middle right.

Bill Burk · May 21, 2023

Nice!

I used to always load my B&H cart with A&I mailers. They were Tyvek bags to send in my Velvia. Makes sense now why I always got rolls of 36exp. Since the bags were good for 24 or 36 it would have been a waste of money to shoot 24exp. slides.

Brad Deputy · May 21, 2023

MattKing said:
I think back to some of the stores I worked in - a wall of shallow "nooks" - each nearly filled with individual boxes of film.

This.
1994, Kits Camera in Bellevue, WA. I distinctly remember picking up my first rolls of TMAX 100 and 400 for high school photography class. The boxes of film on the wall fit so nicely in those nooks!

(I still don't know why I started with TMAX, they had Tri-X too but the guy convinced me otherwise, or maybe my teacher recommend it..dunno. worked just fine.)

r_a_feldman · May 21, 2023

I used to buy (circa 1993 and before) Kodachrome 64 with prepaid processing mailers in Chicago. If I remember correctly, they were from Kodak Canada, but you could mail the exposed film to Rochester for processing and receive a box of paper-mounted slides back in the mail. Those envelopes were paper and came in a yellow box, with the film, that was the same size as a regular box of Kodachrome.

AnselMortensen · May 21, 2023

I have these...for 8mm movie film.

When I first saw them, I thought they were rolls of 127 film.

MattKing · May 21, 2023

r_a_feldman said:
I used to buy (circa 1993 and before) Kodachrome 64 with prepaid processing mailers in Chicago. If I remember correctly, they were from Kodak Canada, but you could mail the exposed film to Rochester for processing and receive a box of paper-mounted slides back in the mail. Those envelopes were paper and came in a yellow box, with the film, that was the same size as a regular box of Kodachrome.

If the Kodachrome of that vintage did originate in Canada, most likely the film and cassette were actually imprinted with the confirmation that it was "processing by Kodak included" film.
The boxes would have had a mailing envelope in them, but it was there for convenience only - those envelopes had no value themselves.
Kodachrome was sold that way in most places around the world, because Kodak labs in the non-USA places were the only labs that could process Kodachrome.

Sirius Glass · May 21, 2023

When I took slides, typically 40 to 60+ 36 exposure rolls a year, I mailed the Ektachrome film to Kodak in mailers.

spark · May 22, 2023

foc said:
See the film shelf on the middle right.

View attachment 339230

Harvey Milk in his store. Notice the film cubby's

https://jweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Jmilk-camerashop-e1528914702278.jpg

Bronson Dugnutt · May 22, 2023

I've encountered them a few times, usually in association with a subminiature camera.

Edit: there is an interesting scanning artifact observable on the black page printed with 'Mamiya Division'.

Sirius Glass · May 22, 2023

Sirius Glass said:
When I took slides, typically 40 to 60+ 36 exposure rolls a year, I mailed the Ektachrome film to Kodak in mailers.

Note that the film was not processed in the bag. The film was removed, processed and mailed back.

mshchem · May 22, 2023

I sure do remember the Kodak pre-paid processing mailers. In the US required 2 first class stamps to return film to Kodak. You printed your home address on the mailer, Kodak would tape this to the box of slides sent back.

MattKing · May 22, 2023

And in Canada, my Dad managed the Customer Service department of a Kodak Canada Processing lab. One of their responsibilities - which consumed a fair amount of staff time - was to attempt to reunite film with all those customers who used the convenience envelopes or prepaid mailers, but either forgot to include their name and return address, or foolishly relied on stick on return address labels, which fairly frequently did not stay stuck in place!

mshchem · May 23, 2023

In all the years we never lost a roll of film using Kodak. My Dad shot Kodachrome from 1949 until early 80's. I have them, I put them in Carousel trays. Great thing to be able to see back in time.

250swb · May 23, 2023

Just as an aside Stephen Shore's book 'American Surfaces' (his early 35mm work) is presented in a reproduction of a large Kodak mailing envelope.

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