Pack Film Development History

[takilmaboxer]

I have an historical technique question. Back in the day photographers used large format film that came in packs. Sheets of e.g., 9X12 film were connected by paper leaders and were deployed much like an old Polaroid, one pulled on the leader to get to the next exposure. Question: if the photographer used the whole pack, did the sheets end up stacked inside the pack enclosure, ready for development one at a time? Or did they stay connected to be developed by machine?
Pardon my ignorance, if anyone can refer me to an historical resource, I'd appreciate it.

 

[Romanko]

According to Kodak's How to Make Good Pictures you could develop all films at once or remove exposed films from the pack and develop them individually. The book is available online:

How to make good pictures : a book for the amateur photographer : Eastman Kodak Company : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

160 p. : 21 cm

archive.org

I doubt machine development was an option in 1920s-1930s when the plate cameras were popular.

 

[takilmaboxer]

Aha! Your reference pointed me in the right direction! Thank you Romanko.

 

[nosmok]

Yeah, I've "robbed the pack" by opening it up in the dark-bag and pulling out exposed negatives. Works great, not very tough at all. The problems with old pack film (aside from it being old) are 1) it's half as thick or less than sheets, so it curls more. 2) it's bigger than sheets in one or more dimensions, so has to be trimmed to fit in scanner film holders. 3) It's a real chemistry hog-- the 12-neg 4x5 pack film holder takes ~1.5 liters of stuff. 4) the last manufactured packs had 16 exposures instead of 12; even if you have a film-pack reel and tank (see #3), you are SOL.