help me remember

[juan]

Back in 1968, I bought my first photo developing kit from my local camera store. It contained a plastic tank, a plastic reel, some chemistry, some paper and a contact printing box with a red and a white bulb inside.

I'm trying to remember what the developer was - the same developer was used for negatives and for prints - I believe at different dilutions. It was made by Kodak, and I believe it was either Dektol or D-76. Does anyone remember which was used for both?
Thanks,
juan

 

[Annemarieke]

Juan,
As far as I know D-76 is a film developer, not a paper developer.

 

[Robert]

If those are the choices I'm betting on Dektol.

 

[Loose Gravel]

My friend had a kit, but it wasn't Kodak, it was Ansco. It used some Ansco developer and you diluted it one way for film and another for paper. Probably a compromise either way.

 

[glbeas]

Kodak used to make what they called the "Tri- Chem Pak", which was small packets of Dektol, powdered stop bath and plain powdered fixer. You mixed the developer, processed the film, then diluted the developer 1:1 and made prints with the same chemistry. That was my first experience with darkroom work, done in the bathroom at home dip processing 620 film in a tray and contact printing with a scrap of glass using the bathroom light.

 

[juan]

Thanks, guys. You've jogged my memory.
The darkroom kit was Ansco. When I went back to the store for more developer they didn't stock the Ansco, so they told me to use Dektol. I also eventually used some of the Tri-Chem-Paks before becomming a "real" photographer and buying D-76, Dektol and Stop Bath separately.

Sometimes I think those days were the most fun - when I didn't know anything and didn't expect to know anything.