At our monthly meeting in May at Coppid Beech Hotel we were treated to the fascinating history of photography. This was the story of cameras and film from their primitive technical beginnings, evolving to mass produced universal consumer products.
Our speaker was Tony Earle who had spent 40 years of his working life working for Kodak at their factory in Harrow. He is indeed an expert on the technical and commercial sides of the business.
Tony traced the early beginnings of various photo processes, through Calotypes, Daguerreotypes, wet plates and dry plates eventually producing cellulose film for virtually universal use by the non-professional public.
George Eastman, who had been making photographic dry plates since 1880, founded Kodak in Rochester, New York state in 1889, and quickly followed this by establishing a presence in the UK at Harrow in 1891.
The Kodak Box Brownie of the 1900 created a new mass market for photography and Eastman was a consummate advertising man, coining the phrase “you press the button, we do the rest”
Tony recounted the progress of the Kodak in the UK through the 20th century taking in colour pictures and instant cameras until the factory’s closure in 2016, when digital cameras had long replaced film in the mass market.
Tony’s talk was spiced by amusing anecdotes and well illustrated by numerous slides. He also brought along his own collection of cameras of bygone years which sparked a little nostalgia as well as technical interest. All in all an entertaining presentation about a former household name whose products now concentrate on business equipment.
Our picture shows PROBUS Chair, Val Briault, being shown cameras from Tony Earle’s collection.
PROBUS is a meeting place for retired or semi-retired professional and business people of either sex who assemble monthly in an informal and friendly atmosphere for social chat, a lunch and a talk on a general interest topic.
At Wokingham PROBUS new members will find a warm welcome. Fees are modest, lunches good value and the company friendly with a wide range of experiences and interests from their varied working lives.
Meetings are on the first Wednesday of the month at 12.30 for 1pm lunch, with a talk usually following. The meeting place is Coppid Beech Hotel, John Nike Way, Bracknell, RG12 8TF.
Presentations coming up include a history of electronic espionage in WW2 on 1st June, the reminiscences of a retired police inspector on 6th July and the story of the QE2 liner on 3rd August.
Prospective members will be most welcome to come and meet us, by prior arrangement please, and try us out without obligation. The contact for further details is Rosie Smith recs94@yahoo.com or via our website https://wokinghamprobus.org.uk
David Hunter
