Kodak Boxes go Naked!

[haziz]

At least on the inside they have. To my surprise the inside of the film boxes for both Tri-X and Tmax 400 are completely blank! No reminders of sunny 16, no development time tables, nothing, just a blank cardboard!

When? Why?

 

[Photo Engineer]

You don't remember the days when each box had a multipage stuffer in it with lots of information on the film and its processing.

IDK when either change took place.

PE

 

[michaelbsc]

At least on the inside they have. To my surprise the inside of the film boxes for both Tri-X and Tmax 400 are completely blank! No reminders of sunny 16, no development time tables, nothing, just a blank cardboard!

When? Why?

I don't know when, but I can tell you why. Money.

 

[Jeff Kubach]

Not sure when, but I geuss you can get the information on the internet.

Jeff

 

[Dan Williams]

You don't remember the days when each box had a multipage stuffer in it with lots of information on the film and its processing.

PE

I do remember the stuffer. I still have some. What I don't remember is where I stored them. They are probably in the same place I saved some of the little screw top metal cans the film used to come in.

Dan

 

[BetterSense]

It's been that way as long as I've been buying Kodak film (couple years). I'm sure it's for cost savings and I understand that...I wouldn't mind if they shipped in plain brown cardboard. Kodak does have very excellent data sheets on the internet...I suppose that's what the internet is for.

Arista EDU Ultra film which sells for like $2.50 comes with development notes on the box.

 

[tkamiya]

I remember those back-of-the-box prints and little folded paper inserts.... but I don't recall I EVER looked at them to see what kind of valuable information might be on them. I would think - with space available, whatever can be printed would be useless, especially in light of the fact that we can get full documentation easily over the Internet.

 

[mudman]

fuji still had it the last time I bought it boxed.

 

[Photo Engineer]

I remember those back-of-the-box prints and little folded paper inserts.... but I don't recall I EVER looked at them to see what kind of valuable information might be on them. I would think - with space available, whatever can be printed would be useless, especially in light of the fact that we can get full documentation easily over the Internet.

There was no internet at that time. Essentially, the full box stuffer was just about everything you find on the internet now at the EK web site.

PE

 

[tkamiya]

Right. I meant to day, TODAY, continuing to do so would be useless. I am fully aware, in 70s when I was introduced to photography, there was no Internet..... or PC for that matter.

 

[Photo Engineer]

There was a 300 baud telephone "internet" using the Apple ][ Plus. I used to use it when I was one of the first customers of Compuserve. I even had a Kodak "internet" address. It was LRGL00@KR25.kodako.kodak.com IIRC. We used PROFS back then. Don't try the address. It vanished the day after I retired (I checked ) and that PROFS system vanished in about 1996.

In the 80s, I also had a direct "internet" connection to IBM as I was a Kodak - IBM coordinator in the 80s.

In the 80s, we went to the IRMA board for 3278 emulation and then to the Forte 3279 graphics emulation on the PC. This was during the change from Apples to Oranges (PCs) .

But, even so, there were stuffers as the information was just not available on the internet even though we could get it internally. Most of it was still in printed form though even to 1999.

PE

 

[tkamiya]

I can predate you on that, Ron. I used ASR-33 with acoustic couplers.....

 

[Photo Engineer]

I can predate you on that, Ron. I used ASR-33 with acoustic couplers.....

But that 300 baud telephone connection was what I was referring to. I still have my acoustic coupler. You don't think that we had direct telephone line connections in the 70s, do you ? Nope, just acoustic couplers.

PE

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

What, PE!?
An "internet connection to IBM" in the 1980s? Remarkable.
At the same place where about that time some bright Chairman remarked, "I think there is a world market for perhaps 5 computers".

 

[MikeSeb]

Ron, I'd like to do a data dump from your cerebrum to the internet. Just the folklore and Kodak history alone would make it worth putting a few electrodes into your forebrain!

 

[Photo Engineer]

Well guys, I may still have the IBM packet of stuff that I used back then. It was delivered to my office in a wood crate so you can imagine the size of the software packages that I got to be a Kodak-IBM interface person. We met quarterly IIRC, and we often met with Kodak legal people and IBM VPs and legal people on issues with the fledgling computer systems.

I am happy to talk to anyone about the things I know about or can pretty much remember from that long ago. Back then we used Unix, Qnx, Apple OS, IBMs 2 OSs, IBMs CPM and etc... and a host of others. Back then we had in internal "internet" using what we called KR25 and KR26 plus a third one that I have forgotten. We had kodako and kodaki and kodaka along with firewalls all over the place.

We used TCPIP generally but due to my security problems with emulsions, my group used Token Ring with a MUXBOX that required hard wires to access in, but I could go out. Thus I had a Linux or Unix screen (window) on my PC but no one else could see my DB except my group.

Ah well.......

Mike, I'll do a data dump any time. It will be at 500TBPS and the bus would be 128bits wide. Think fast. I do!

PE

 

[2F/2F]

Those "stuffers" were the best. I read them beginning to end, and got so much invaluable information by doing so. Ah, the days when it was assumed photographers might have actually wanted to READ and KNOW STUFF! Wowzers!!!

I swear, if those stuffers were still there, we wouldn't have half as many questions on this Website.

 

[JPD]

What, PE!?
An "internet connection to IBM" in the 1980s? Remarkable.
At the same place where about that time some bright Chairman remarked, "I think there is a world market for perhaps 5 computers".

From Wikipedia:

"Although Watson is well known for his alleged 1943 statement: "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers," there is scant evidence he made it. Author Kevin Maney tried to find the origin of the quote, but has been unable to locate any speeches or documents of Watson's that contain this, nor are the words present in any contemporary articles about IBM."

Even if he didn't say it, computers back then were large and very expensive to build, buy and maintain.

 

[kompressor]

You don't remember the days when each box had a multipage stuffer in it with lots of information on the film and its processing.

IDK when either change took place.

PE

I stuffer like this:http://www.tmax100.com/photo/pdf/panatomix_x_leaflet.pdf

 

[Photo Engineer]

I stuffer like this:http://www.tmax100.com/photo/pdf/panatomix_x_leaflet.pdf

Yep. Looks like 1968.

PE

 

[PhotoJim]

I just shot a roll of Bergger 200 in 120 on the weekend... and inside the box was an instruction leaflet!

 

[Mark Antony]

The Adox 120 I used yesterday had an instruction leaflet. I remember using Kodak Ektachrome Pro 64 in the 1970-80's and the leaflet had the films effective speed printed in red ink I remember one batch I bought had ASA 80 stamped on it.
I used to like the Leica film cutting template which was on them till the mid 1980's.
here:
http://photo-utopia.blogspot.com/2006_09_24_archive.html

Mark

 

[kevs]

The last 'stuffer' I got was with a roll of Kodachrome 200 Pro I got for two quid from Jessops (major UK photo retailer). Ah, happy days.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Ok here is a date.

I recently finished a roll of 135 HIE expired 02/2009 and there are instructions printed on the inside of the box.

Steve

 

[Anon Ymous]

Another date:

I have a box of Tri-X, which would expire on 04/2010, which also has instructions printed on the inside of the box. Emulsion number is 1061 and if the expiration date is roughly 30 months after manufacturing, then it was made in the last quarter of 2007, possibly October 2007?