So while looking for content to add to my WordPress blog page, I came upon this map of Disneyland from my visit in 2011. I saw that there was a Kodak advertisement/endorsement and the style of the ad just took me back to growing up in the 1990s; this was when cameras still used 35mm film and Kodak was the king of “capturing moments.”
I remember families taking pictures while visiting places like theme parks and the beach on their Canon cameras which just had a fresh new insert of Kodak 35mm that came in a little yellow package, similar in size to some current day printer refill ink cartridges, which also had the film roll inside little plastic cylinder canisters. When the film where all used up, you take it to the local 1 day photo printing shop, which printed the pictures on quality Kodak photo paper.
Kodak film, especially the single use camera, holds a special place in my life. I remember one of the item gift baskets I had received for graduation high school from the nice lunch ladies I worked with at the school’s cafeteria was a single use camera. I got to take some pictures of my last week of high school; any remainder of the film I had left I took pictures of a “Drift Day” event I had attended with a couple coworkers back in 2004.
As we all probably know, photos nowadays are taken in a digital format and in a fast-paced world of social media and “insta-wha-cha-mah-call-it”, digital is the way to go.
But I will never forget how much of an importance the 35mm film, like the ones from (Kodak, Polaroid, and Fujifilm) played an important role in my life as I was growing up.
As for Kodak, I think they’re still around today. How are they doing? I haven’t looked into it, but have you ever watched the credits of the end of a movie? Maybe I’m the odd few that actually sits through an ending credit. At least for some of the movies I can remember, those movies were shot of Kodak Motion Picture film. If you ask me, I’m guessing they’re doing not too bad.
Next time you have a trip, an adventure, a party, a vacation, or any other significant events going on in your life, maybe ask yourself just for the silliness of it: “Is this worthy of being called a ‘Kodak Moment’?” I know I probably will 🙂