Kodak and the lens of nostalgia / Nancy Martha West.

By:

West, Nancy Martha, 1963-

Material type: Text

TextSeries: Cultural frames, framing culturePublication details: Charlottesville : University Press of Virginia 2000.Description: xviii, 242 p., 16 p. of plates : ill. (some col.) ; 24 cmISBN:

0813919592 (pbk. : alk. paper)
9780813919591 (pbk. : alk. paper)

Subject(s):

DDC classification:

770.1 WES

Contents:

1. A short history of Kodak advertising, 1888-1932 -- 2. Vacation days are Kodak days : modern leisure and the new amateur photographer in advertising -- 3. Operated by any school boy or girl : the marketing of the Brownie camera -- 4. Proudly displayed by wearers of chic ensembles : vanity cameras, Kodak girls, and the culture of female fashion -- 5. Kodak knows no dark days : the disavowal of death in snapshot photography and advertising -- 6. Let Kodak keep the story : narrative, memory, and the selling of the autographic camera during World War I -- Coda : Kodak\'s death campaign.

Summary: Publisher Fact Sheet The advertising campaigns launched by Kodak in the early years of snapshot photography stand at the center of a shift in American domestic life that goes deeper than technological innovations in cameras & film. Before the advent of Kodak advertising in 1888, writes Nancy Martha West. Americans were much more willing to allow sorrow into the space of the domestic photograph, as evidenced by the popularity of postmortem photography in the mid-nineteenth century. Through the taking of snapshots, Kodak taught Americans to see their experiences as objects of nostalgia, to arrange their lives in such a way that painful or unpleasant aspects were systematically erased. West looks at a wide assortment of Kodak\'s most popular inventions & marketing strategies, including the Kodak Girl, the momentous invention of the Brownie camera in 1900, the Story Campaign during World War 1, & even the Vanity Kodak Ensemble, a camera introduced in 1926 that came fully equipped with lipstick. At the beginning of its campaign, Kodak advertising primarily sold the fun of taking pictures. Ads from this period celebrate the sheer pleasure of snapshot photography--the delight of handling a diminutive camera, of not worrying about developing & printing, of capturing subjects in candid moments. But after 1900, a crucial shift began to take place in the company\'s marketing strategy. The preservation of domestic memories became Kodak\'s most important mission. With the introduction of the Brownie camera at the turn of the century, the importance of home began to replace leisure activity as the subject of ads, & at the end of World War I, Americans seemed desperately to need photographs to confirm familial unity. By 1932, Kodak had become so intoxicated with the power of its own marketing that it came up with the most bizarre idea of all, the Death Campaign. Initiated but never published, this campaign based on pictures of dead loved ones brought Kodak advertising full circle. Having launched one of the most successful campaigns in advertising history, the company did not seem to notice that selling a painful subject might be more difficult than selling momentary pleasure or nostalgia. Enhanced with over 50 reproductions of the ads themselves, 16 of them in color, Kodak & the Lens of Nostalgia vividly illustrates the fundamental changes in American culture & the function of memory in the formative years of the twentieth century.

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Call number	Copy number	Status	Date due	Barcode
Standard Loan	LSAD Library Main Collection	770.1 WES (Browse shelf(Opens below))	1	Available		39002100452367

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The advertising campaigns launched by Kodak in the early years of snapshot photography stand at the center of a shift in American domestic life that goes deeper than technological innovations in cameras and film. Before the advent of Kodak advertising in 1888, writes Nancy Martha West, Americans were much more willing to allow sorrow into the space of the domestic photograph, as evidenced by the popularity of postmortem photography in the mid-nineteenth century. Through the taking of snapshots, Kodak taught Americans to see their experiences as objects of nostalgia, to arrange their lives in such a way that painful or unpleasant aspects were systematically erased.

West looks at a wide assortment of Kodak's most popular inventions and marketing strategies, including the "Kodak Girl," the momentous invention of the Brownie camera in 1900, the "Story Campaign" during World War I, and even the Vanity Kodak Ensemble, a camera introduced in 1926 that came fully equipped with lipstick.

At the beginning of its campaign, Kodak advertising primarily sold the fun of taking pictures. Ads from this period celebrate the sheer pleasure of snapshot photography--the delight of handling a diminutive camera, of not worrying about developing and printing, of capturing subjects in candid moments. But after 1900, a crucial shift began to take place in the company's marketing strategy. The preservation of domestic memories became Kodak's most important mission. With the introduction of the Brownie camera at the turn of the century, the importance of home began to replace leisure activity as the subject of ads, and at the end of World War I, Americans seemed desperately to need photographs to confirm familial unity.

By 1932, Kodak had become so intoxicated with the power of its own marketing that it came up with the most bizarre idea of all, the "Death Campaign." Initiated but never published, this campaign based on pictures of dead loved ones brought Kodak advertising full circle. Having launched one of the most successful campaigns in advertising history, the company did not seem to notice that selling a painful subject might be more difficult than selling momentary pleasure or nostalgia.

Enhanced with over 50 reproductions of the ads themselves, 16 of them in color, Kodak and the Lens of Nostalgia vividly illustrates the fundamental changes in American culture and the function of memory in the formative years of the twentieth century.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 225-236) and index.

Publisher Fact Sheet The advertising campaigns launched by Kodak in the early years of snapshot photography stand at the center of a shift in American domestic life that goes deeper than technological innovations in cameras & film. Before the advent of Kodak advertising in 1888, writes Nancy Martha West. Americans were much more willing to allow sorrow into the space of the domestic photograph, as evidenced by the popularity of postmortem photography in the mid-nineteenth century. Through the taking of snapshots, Kodak taught Americans to see their experiences as objects of nostalgia, to arrange their lives in such a way that painful or unpleasant aspects were systematically erased. West looks at a wide assortment of Kodak\'s most popular inventions & marketing strategies, including the Kodak Girl, the momentous invention of the Brownie camera in 1900, the Story Campaign during World War 1, & even the Vanity Kodak Ensemble, a camera introduced in 1926 that came fully equipped with lipstick. At the beginning of its campaign, Kodak advertising primarily sold the fun of taking pictures. Ads from this period celebrate the sheer pleasure of snapshot photography--the delight of handling a diminutive camera, of not worrying about developing & printing, of capturing subjects in candid moments. But after 1900, a crucial shift began to take place in the company\'s marketing strategy. The preservation of domestic memories became Kodak\'s most important mission. With the introduction of the Brownie camera at the turn of the century, the importance of home began to replace leisure activity as the subject of ads, & at the end of World War I, Americans seemed desperately to need photographs to confirm familial unity. By 1932, Kodak had become so intoxicated with the power of its own marketing that it came up with the most bizarre idea of all, the Death Campaign. Initiated but never published, this campaign based on pictures of dead loved ones brought Kodak advertising full circle. Having launched one of the most successful campaigns in advertising history, the company did not seem to notice that selling a painful subject might be more difficult than selling momentary pleasure or nostalgia. Enhanced with over 50 reproductions of the ads themselves, 16 of them in color, Kodak & the Lens of Nostalgia vividly illustrates the fundamental changes in American culture & the function of memory in the formative years of the twentieth century.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

Preface (p. ix)
Acknowledgments (p. xvi)
Introduction (p. 1)
1. A Short History of Kodak Advertising, 1888-1932 (p. 19)
2. "Vacation Days Are Kodak Days": Modern Leisure and the New Amateur Photographer in Advertising (p. 36)
3. "Operated by Any School Boy or Girl": The Marketing of the Brownie Camera (p. 74)
4. "Proudly Displayed by Wearers of Chic Ensembles": Vanity Cameras, Kodak Girls, and the Culture of Female Fashion (p. 109)
5. "Kodak Knows No Dark Days": The Disavowal of Death in Snapshot Photography and Advertising (p. 136)
6. "Let Kodak Keep the Story": Narrative, Memory, and the Selling of the Autographic Camera during World War I (p. 166)
Coda: Kodak's Death Campaign (p. 200)
Notes (p. 209)
Bibliography (p. 225)
Index (p. 237)

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Nancy Martha West is Assistant Professor of Victorian and Cultural Studies at the University of Missouri--Columbia.