The Kodak Original

The first successful camera within the Kodak company was the Kodak Original, patented in September of 1888. This camera came supplied with rolls of film that produced circular images measured in 2 ⅝” in diameter. The original camera had a rotating barrel shutter which was unprecedented compared to other models. However, the price for manufacturing the barrel was more expensive than its worth. Within the first year on the market, users reported it to be undependable while in operation. The company then quickly replaced it with a simpler and more reliable sector shutter.[16]

The price of the camera, already loaded with enough film for one hundred exposures, was twenty-five dollars. Once the exposure was done, then the camera would be sent back to the company factory in Rochester for development, print, and a reload of film for ten dollars.[17] The company also supplied the camera with a leather carrying case that had room for spare rolls of film that were sold at two dollars apiece.[18] This gave photographs the opportunity to take more than one hundred photos before development instead of waiting for one roll to be developed at a time.

The popularity of the Kodak camera rose dramatically over time. In May of 1888, about four months before the company secured the patent, they sold the first Kodak camera. A year later, more than five thousand cameras were sold. Before 1898, it was widely estimated that more than 1.5 million cameras were purchased.[22] Without considering development and extra rolls being sold, it is predicted that the company produced about 37.5 million dollars in sales within ten years of the camera first being released.

As the popularity of Kodak’s cameras quickly skyrocketed, photography became a national hobby. Clubs and magazines were established to form groups such as “kodakers”, who were known for their enthusiasm for “kodaking”, “kodakery”, etc. These kinds of photography groups continued into the twentieth century and promoted photography as a fine art, lobbying for greater recognition of photography as a serious artistic pursuit, rather than a simple popular activity. Alfred Stieglitz started one of these groups called the Photo-Secession in 1902. He and his acquaintances worked together to secure a spot for photography to be considered a fine art.[23]