Kodak

An original Kodak camera

The company we know as Kodak was once known as the Eastman Kodak company. Digital photography and video killed most of their business which ranged from the average consumer to the big Hollywood movie studios. The company is not a big player in either market these days, but it once ruled the American film and photography business.

George Eastman received a patent for the first film camera in 1888. Eastman had been an enthusiastic photographer but found bulky cameras and heavy, breakable glass plates cumbersome and inconvenient. He wanted to make it easier for people to take up photography.

By 1880, he had improved on the previous photographic plate, so he formed his own business. He then developed cellulose film which could be rolled onto a spool which eliminated the need for plates altogether. 

Next, he designed a camera that could make use of a roll of film and he obtained a patent for that invention, which came to be known as the Kodak box camera. The box camera could hold enough rolled film to shoot 100 exposures and it completely revolutionized the art and science of photography. 

The genius of his company is summarized in the slogan he patented - “You press the button. We do the rest.” They sold you the camera, sold you the film, and did the processing and printing. They owned the whole cycle of photography. Even if you did your own developing and printing in a darkroom, you bought their chemicals and paper.

The name “Kodak” is also an invention of George Eastman. It actually has no special meaning. He once explained, “I devised the name myself. The letter ‘K’ had been a favorite with me — it seems a strong, incisive sort of letter. It became a question of trying out a great number of combinations of letters that made words starting and ending with ‘K.’ The word ‘Kodak’ is the result.”

The company known as Eastman Kodak eventually shortened its name to just Kodak. 

By Work-Order Studio to Commons., Public Domain, Link