Kodak - a brand fades out
01/07/2012
Kodak is probably one of the most famous brands in the world. For around 100 years, the Eastman Kodak company was a leading force in photography and far beyond. And now this former empire is facing bankruptcy! Some developments were overslept, digitization was left to others, the end of the former market leader is near.
But what does this have to do with old cars?
Quite a lot! Cars were immortalized on huge quantities of Kodak black-and-white and colour films, as well as slides (Kodachrome and Ektachrome) and until just a few years ago, Kodak materials (e.g. the Tri-X-Pan black-and-white film) were part of every photo bag. Our fathers perhaps used a Kodak Retina as a portable camera, the generations of the sixties and seventies grew up with Kodak Instamatic cameras and of course photographed (and filmed) cars with them, which we might not remember at all without these pictures.
Kodak marks the end of a landmark of an era that for a long time went from success to success in parallel with the development of the automobile, until new technologies and demands ushered in a new era. You can be a little sad and sentimental about it.