110-610: Kodak Retinette is the name of a classic series of cameras manufactured by the Eastman Kodak company. They were introduced in 1939 as a less expensive alternative to the Kodak Retina series. The first models were of the folding type using bellows and their lenses had three elements as compared to the four element Tessar lenses ( Greek : Tessera meaning four ) of the Retina series. The first non-folding (rigid) variant
220-628: A Fortune 500 company in its own right. A key component of the incremental strategy was Kodak's line of digital self-service kiosks installed in retail locations, where consumers could upload and edit photos, as a replacement for traditional photo developers. Kodak also began manufacturing digital cameras, such as the Apple QuickTake . Film sales continued to rise during the 1990s, delaying the digital transition from occurring faster. In 2001, film sales began to fall. Under Daniel Carp , Fisher's successor as CEO, Kodak made an aggressive move in
330-650: A 7% stake, diluted to 4.5% by subsequent share issues, in prominent Unix systems vendor Sun Microsystems . Interactive's role in Kodak's strategy was to deliver Unix-based imaging products and to support Kodak's introduction of Photo CD . Interactive planned to release a distribution of Unix System V Release 4 featuring comprehensive support for imaging peripherals such as scanners and printers, along with facilities for colour management and colourspace conversion. Later in 1991, however, Kodak put Interactive up for sale, attracting interest from various technology companies including
440-832: A 9.6% share, and by 2010, had dropped to a 7% share, in seventh place behind Canon , Sony , Nikon , and others, according to research firm IDC. An ever-smaller share of digital pictures were being taken on dedicated digital cameras, being gradually displaced by cameras on cellphones, smartphones , and tablets . Digital camera sales peaked in 2007 and declined afterwards. Kodak began another strategy shift after Antonio Pérez became CEO in 2005. While Kodak had previously done all development and manufacturing in-house, Pérez shut down factories and outsourced or eliminated manufacturing divisions. Kodak agreed to divest its digital camera manufacturing operations to Flextronics in August 2006, including assembly, production and testing. The company exited
550-404: A camera simultaneously. That same year, Eastman patented a form of paper film he called "American film". Eastman would continue experimenting with cameras and hired chemist Henry Reichenbach to improve the film. These experiments would culminate in an 1889 patent for nitrocellulose film. As the company continued to grow, it was re-incorporated several more times. In November 1889, it was renamed
660-516: A complete shift to digital photography would occur by 2010. However, company executives were reluctant to make a strong pivot towards digital technology, since it would require heavy investment, make the core business of film unprofitable, and put the company into direct competition with established firms in the computer hardware industry. Under CEOs Colby Chandler and Kay Whitmore, Kodak instead attempted to diversify its chemical operations. Although these new operations were given large budgets, there
770-538: A deadline of February 15, 2013, to produce a reorganization plan. In January 2013, the Court approved financing for Kodak to emerge from bankruptcy by mid 2013. During bankruptcy proceedings, Kodak sold many of its patents for approximately $ 525 million to a group of companies (including Apple , Google , Facebook , Amazon , Microsoft , Samsung , Adobe Systems , and HTC ) under the names Intellectual Ventures and RPX Corporation . Kodak announced that it would end
880-541: A dental care clinic for children opened in 1937 in Stockholm , Sweden. Marion Gleason, a close confidante of Eastman, later described his views on African Americans as "typical of his time – paternalistic, but strictly against social fraternization." Although he made generous donations to the Hampton Institute and Tuskegee Institute , becoming their largest donor in his era, he also upheld and reinforced
990-528: A direct appeal from president Walter White in 1929. From 1925 until his death, Eastman donated $ 10,000 per year to the American Eugenics Society (increasing the donation to $ 15,000 in 1932), a popular cause among many of the upper class when there were concerns about immigration and "race mixing". In his final two years, Eastman was in intense pain due to a disorder affecting his spine . He had trouble standing, and his walk became
1100-420: A future digital shift. Kodak sought to establish a presence in the information systems market, acquiring Unix developer Interactive Systems Corporation in early 1988 to operate as a subsidiary of Kodak's newly established software systems division. Kodak's resources enabled Interactive to expand their business, but this raised issues with regard to Kodak's strategy, since the company had previously acquired
1210-476: A high poverty rate in the city. Between 2007 and 2018, real GDP losses from Kodak canceled out the growth in all other sectors in Rochester. On March 12, 2014, Kodak announced that Jeffrey J. Clarke had been named as chief executive officer and a member of its board of directors. At the end of 2016, Kodak reported its first annual profit since bankruptcy. In recent years, Kodak has licensed its brand to
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#17328025199751320-458: A high-margin printer ink business to replace falling film sales, a move which was widely criticized due to the amount of competition present in the printer market, which would make expansion difficult. Kodak's ink strategy rejected the razor and blades business model used by dominant market leader Hewlett-Packard by selling expensive printers with cheaper ink cartridges. In 2011, these new lines of inkjet printers were said to be on verge of turning
1430-437: A large portion of his stock to company employees below market value. The expansion of benefits continued after Eastman; in 1928, the company began offering life insurance , disability benefits, and retirement annuity plans for employees, at the behest of company statistician Marion Folsom . Many other employers in the Rochester area took cues from Kodak and increased their own wages and benefits in order to remain competitive in
1540-719: A major role in planning and financing the campaign for a new global calendar, and also headed the National Committee on Calendar Simplification, in the United States, which was created at the behest of the League of Nations . Eastman supported Cotsworth's campaign until his death. Eastman wrote several articles to promote the 13-month system, including "Problems of Calendar Improvement" in Scientific American and "The Importance of Calendar Reform to
1650-416: A mass market for the first time. Kodak began as a partnership between George Eastman and Henry A. Strong to develop a film roll camera. After the release of the Kodak camera, Eastman Kodak was incorporated on May 23, 1892. Under Eastman's direction, the company became one of the world's largest film and camera manufacturers, and also developed a model of welfare capitalism and a close relationship with
1760-421: A new roll of film. Additional rolls were also sold for $ 2 to professional photographers who wished to develop their own photographs. By unburdening the photographer from the complicated and expensive process of film development, photography became more accessible than ever before. The camera was an immediate success with the public and launched a fad of amateur photography. Eastman's advertising slogan, " You Press
1870-667: A note which read, "To my friends: my work is done. Why wait?" Eastman is regarded as one of the most influential and well-known residents of Rochester, New York . He has been commemorated on several college campuses and the Hollywood Walk of Fame , and the George Eastman Museum has been designated a National Historic Landmark . Eastman was born in Waterville, New York , as the youngest child of George Washington Eastman and Maria Eastman (née Kilbourn), at
1980-461: A number of other companies. The California-based company JK Imaging has manufactured Micro Four-Thirds cameras under the Kodak brand since 2013. The Kodak Ektra , a smartphone , was designed by the Bullitt Group and launched in 2016. Digital tablets were announced with Archos in 2017. In 2018, Kodak announced two failed cryptocurrency products; the cryptocurrency KodakCoin , which
2090-663: A partnership with Edwin Land to supply polarized lenses, after briefly considering an offer to purchase Land's patents. Land would later launch the Polaroid Corporation and invented the first instant camera using emulsions supplied by Kodak. Frank Lovejoy succeeded William Stuber as company president in 1934, and Thomas J. Hargrave became president in 1941. After the American entry into World War II , Kodak ceased its production of amateur film and began supplying
2200-541: A passion for playing the piano. The loss of his mother, Maria, was particularly crushing to George. Almost pathologically concerned with decorum, he found himself, for the first time, unable to control his emotions in the presence of his friends. "When my mother died I cried all day", he said later. "I could not have stopped to save my life." Due to his mother's reluctance to accept his gifts, Eastman could never do enough for his mother during her lifetime. He continued to honor her after her death. On September 4, 1922, he opened
2310-785: A petition with the US Commerce Department under section 301 of the Commerce Act arguing that its poor performance in the Japanese market was a direct result of unfair practices adopted by Fuji. The complaint was lodged by the United States with the World Trade Organization . On January 30, 1998, the WTO announced a "sweeping rejection of Kodak's complaints" about the film market in Japan. A price war between
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#17328025199752420-498: A profit, although some analysts were skeptical as printouts had been replaced gradually by electronic copies on computers, tablets, and smartphones. Inkjet printers continued to be viewed as one of the company's anchors after it entered bankruptcy proceedings. However, in September 2012 declining sales forced Kodak to announce an exit from the consumer inkjet market. Kodak's finances and stock value continued to decline, and in 2009
2530-450: A profit-sharing program for all employees in 1912. Eastman never married. He was close to his mother and to his sister Ellen Maria and her family. He had a long platonic relationship with Josephine Dickman, a trained singer and the wife of business associate George Dickman. He became especially close to Dickman after the death of his mother, Maria Eastman, in 1907. He was also an avid traveler, enjoyed music and social gatherings, and had
2640-490: A rotating bar to operate the shutter. When the user pressed the button to take a photograph, an inner rope was tightened and the exposure began. Once the photograph had been taken, the user had to rotate the upper key to change the selected frame within the celluloid tape. The $ 25 camera came pre-loaded with a film roll of 100 exposures, and could be mailed to Eastman's headquarters in Rochester with $ 10 for processing . The camera would be returned with prints, negatives , and
2750-600: A separate class from other workers in Rochester, and "From the cradle infants are impressed with the fact that 'daddy is a Kodak man'; inferentially this compares with 'our father is a 33rd degree mason '". A 1989 New York Times article compared Rochester to a company town . Kodak's business model changed little from the 1930s to the 1970s, as the company's dominant position made change unnecessary and it made no mergers or acquisitions which might bring new perspectives. Research and development remained focused on products related to film production and development, which caused
2860-401: A slow shuffle. Today, it might be diagnosed as a form of degenerative disease such as disc herniations from trauma or age causing either painful nerve root compressions, or perhaps a type of lumbar spinal stenosis , a narrowing of the spinal canal caused by calcification in the vertebrae . Since his mother suffered the final two years of her life in a wheelchair, she also may have had
2970-403: A spine condition but that is uncertain. Only her uterine cancer and successful surgery are documented in her health history. As a result of his pain, Eastman suffered from depression . On March 14, 1932, Eastman died by suicide with a single gunshot through the heart. His suicide note read, "To my friends, my work is done – Why wait? GE." Raymond Granger, an insurance salesman in Rochester,
3080-842: A turnaround strategy in the 2000s, Kodak instead made an aggressive turn to digital photography and digital printing . These strategies failed to improve the company's finances, and in January 2012, Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York . In September 2013, the company emerged from bankruptcy, having shed its large legacy liabilities, restructured, and exited several businesses. Since emerging from bankruptcy, Kodak has continued to provide commercial digital printing products and services, motion picture film , and still film,
3190-559: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Eastman Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company , referred to simply as Kodak ( / ˈ k oʊ d æ k / ), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York , and is incorporated in New Jersey . It is best known for photographic film products, which it brought to
3300-409: Is in Rochester. In 1888, the Kodak camera was patented by Eastman. It was a box camera with a fixed-focus lens on the front and no viewfinder ; two V shape silhouettes at the top aided in aiming in the direction of the subject. At the top it had a rotating key to advance the film, a pull-string to set the shutter , and a button on the side to release it, exposing the celluloid film. Inside, it had
3410-580: The Charles River , and Tuskegee University and Hampton University , two historically black universities in the South . With interests in improving health, he provided funds for clinics in London and other European cities to serve low-income residents. In his final two years, Eastman was in intense pain caused by a disorder affecting his spine. On March 14, 1932, he shot himself in the heart, leaving
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3520-490: The Eastman Chemical Company . Henry Strong died in 1919, after which Eastman became the company president. Eastman began to wind down his involvement in the daily management of the company in the mid-1920s, and formally retired in 1925, although he remained on the board of directors. William Stuber succeeded him as president, and managed the company along with Frank Lovejoy. In 1912, Kodak established
3630-605: The Eastman Theatre in Rochester, which included a chamber-music hall, Kilbourn Theater, dedicated to his mother's memory. At the Eastman House he maintained a rose bush, using a cutting from her childhood home. Eastman was a presidential elector in 1900 and 1916 . In 1915, Eastman founded the Bureau of Municipal Research in Rochester to gather information and make government policy recommendations. The agency
3740-580: The Motion Picture Patents Company in 1908, Eastman negotiated for Kodak to be sole supplier of film to the industry. His monopolistic actions attracted the attention of the federal government, which began an anti-trust investigation into Kodak in 1911 for exclusive contracts, acquisitions of competitors, and price-fixing. This resulted in a lawsuit against Kodak in 1913 and a final judgement in 1921, ordering Kodak to stop fixing prices and sell many of its interests. Kodak's growth
3850-677: The National Reconnaissance Office to produce cameras for surveillance satellites such as the KH-7 Gambit and KH-9 Hexagon . Between 1963 and 1970, Kodak engineers worked on the cancelled Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, designing optical sensors for a crewed reconnaissance satellite. The company later performed a study for NASA on the astronomical uses of the equipment developed for MOL. Kodak doubled its number of employees worldwide between 1936 and 1966. The majority remained employed in Rochester, where it
3960-551: The Trinity test site. After this discovery, Kodak officials became concerned that fallout would contaminate more of their film, and began monitoring atmospheric radiation levels with rainwater collection at Kodak Park. In 1951, the United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) began providing Kodak with a schedule of nuclear tests in exchange for its silence after the company threatened to sue
4070-576: The 10-acre (4.0 ha) farm which his parents had bought in 1849. He had two older sisters, Ellen Maria and Katie. He was largely self-educated, although he attended a private school in Rochester after the age of eight. In the early 1840s his father had started a business school, the Eastman Commercial College in Rochester, New York . The city became one of the first "boomtowns" in the United States, based on its rapid industrialization. As his father's health started deteriorating,
4180-421: The 1920s, Eastman was involved in calendar reform and supported the 13-month per year International Fixed Calendar developed by Moses B. Cotsworth . On January 17, 1925, Eastman invited Cotsworth to his home; he had been introduced to Cotsworth's calendar by a mutual friend and was interested in the system. He secretly funded Cotsworth for a year and then openly supported him and the 13-month plan. Eastman took
4290-699: The 1970s, Kodak published important research in dye lasers , and patented the Bayer Filter method of RGB arrangement on photosensors. During the Cold War , Kodak participated in a number of clandestine government projects. Beginning in 1955 they were contracted by the CIA to design cameras and develop film for the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft under the Bridgehead Program. Kodak was also contracted by
4400-714: The American Ambassador to the UK. The clinic was incorporated into the Royal Free Hospital and was committed to providing dental care for disadvantaged children from central London. It is now a part of University College London . In 1929 he founded the George Eastman Visiting Professorship at Oxford , to be held each year by a different American scholar of the highest distinction. Eastman also funded Eastmaninstitutet ,
4510-591: The American war effort at the direction of the War Production Board . The company produced film, cameras, microfilm , pontoons , synthetic fibers , RDX , variable-time fuses , and hand grenades for the government. Kodak's European subsidiaries continued to operate during the war. Kodak AG, the German subsidiary, was transferred to two trustees in 1941 to allow the company to continue operating in
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4620-757: The Business World" in Nation's Business . By 1928, the Kodak Company implemented the calendar in its business bookkeeping, and continued to use it until 1989. He was chairman of the National Committee on Calendar Simplification. Although a conference was held at the League of Nations in 1931, with his death and the looming tensions of World War II , this calendar was dropped from consideration. In 1925 Eastman gave up his daily management of Kodak and officially retired as president. He remained associated with
4730-554: The Button, We Do the Rest ", soon entered the public lexicon, and was referenced by Chauncey Depew in a speech and Gilbert and Sullivan in their opera Utopia, Limited . In the 1890s and early 1900s, Kodak grew rapidly and outmaneuvered competitors through a combination of innovation, acquisitions, and exclusive contracts. Eastman recognized that film would return more profit than the cameras that used them, and focused on control of
4840-717: The Eastman Company and 10,000 shares of stock were issued for $ 100. On May 23, 1892, another round of capitalization occurred and it was renamed Eastman Kodak. An Eastman Kodak of New Jersey was established in 1901 and existed simultaneously with the Eastman Kodak of New York until 1936, when the New York corporation was dissolved and its assets were transferred to the New Jersey corporation. Kodak remains incorporated in New Jersey today, although its headquarters
4950-660: The Eastman Dry Plate Company was founded on January 1, 1881, with Strong as president and Eastman as treasurer. Initially, the company sold dry plates for cameras, but Eastman's interest turned to replacing glass plates altogether with a new roll film process. On October 1, 1884, the company was re-incorporated as the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company. In 1885, Eastman patented the first practical film roll holder with William Walker, which would allow dry plate cameras to store multiple exposures in
5060-561: The Kodak Research Laboratories at Building 3 in Kodak Park, with Kenneth Mees as director. Research primarily focused on film emulsions for color photography and radiography . In 1915, Kodak began selling Kodachrome, a two-color film developed by John Capstaff at the research lab. Another two-color film duplitized film was marketed for photography of X-rays as it had a short exposure time and could reduce
5170-631: The River Campus of the University of Rochester is named for Eastman. The Rochester Institute of Technology has a building dedicated to him, in recognition of his support and substantial donations. MIT installed a plaque of Eastman on one of the buildings he funded. (Students rub the nose of Eastman's image on the plaque for good luck.) Eastman had built a mansion at 900 East Avenue in Rochester. Here he entertained friends to dinner and held private music concerts. The University of Rochester used
5280-673: The SunSoft subsidiary of Sun Microsystems, on whose Solaris operating system Interactive had undertaken development work. SunSoft eventually acquired the systems products division of Interactive in early 1992, leaving the services and technologies division with Kodak, until its eventual sale to SHL Systemhouse in 1993. Kodak would continue its relationship with Sun as a notable customer, integrating various Sun technologies in its document management products. Kodak would later sue Sun for infringing three software patents acquired by Kodak in 1997 from Wang Laboratories . In 1993, Whitmore announced
5390-598: The alias "Mr. Smith". In 1918, he endowed the establishment of the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, and in 1921 a school of medicine and dentistry there. In 1922, he founded the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra , hiring its first music director Albert Coates . Figured for its value in 1932, the year of Eastman's death, $ 100 million is equivalent to more than $ 2 billion in 2022. In 1915, Eastman provided funds for
5500-709: The camera was immediately popular with the public. By August 1888, Eastman was struggling to meet orders, and he and his employees soon had several other cameras in development. The rapidly-growing Eastman Dry Plate Company was reorganized as the Eastman Company In 1889, and then incorporated as Eastman Kodak in 1892. Eastman recognized that most of his revenue would come from the sale of additional film rolls, rather than camera sales, and focused on film production. By providing quality and affordable film to every camera manufacturer, Kodak managed to turn competitors into de facto business partners. In 1889 he patented
5610-496: The city of Rochester. During most of the 20th century, Kodak held a dominant position in photographic film, and produced a number of technological innovations through heavy investment in research and development at Kodak Research Laboratories. Kodak produced some of the most popular camera models of the 20th century, including the Brownie and Instamatic . The company's ubiquity was such that its " Kodak moment " tagline entered
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#17328025199755720-421: The common lexicon to describe a personal event that deserved to be recorded for posterity. Kodak began to struggle financially in the late 1990s as a result of increasing competition from Fujifilm . The company also struggled with the transition from film to digital photography , although Kodak had developed the first self-contained digital camera . Attempts to diversify its chemical operations failed, and as
5830-402: The company began cutting benefits and making large layoffs to save money. Despite the competition, Kodak's revenues and profits continued to increase during the 1990s, due to the strategy changes and an overall expansion of the global market. Under CEO George M. C. Fisher , Kodak's annual revenue peaked at $ 16 billion in 1996 and profits peaked at $ 2.5 billion in 1999. In May 1995, Kodak filed
5940-443: The company could enter bankruptcy followed by an auction of its patents, as it was reported to be in talks with Citigroup to provide debtor-in-possession financing . This was confirmed on January 19, 2012, when the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and obtained a $ 950 million, 18-month credit facility from Citigroup to enable it to continue operations. Under the terms of its bankruptcy protection, Kodak had
6050-437: The company experienced rapid growth. By 1896, Kodak was the leading supplier of film stock internationally, and by 1915, the company was the largest employer in Rochester, with over 8,000 employees and annual earnings of $ 15.7 Million. In 1934, shortly after Eastman's death, Kodak employed 23,000. One of the largest markets for film became the emerging motion picture industry . When Thomas Edison and other film producers formed
6160-602: The company in a business executive capacity, as the chairman of the board, until his death. During his lifetime, Eastman donated $ 100 million to various organizations, becoming one of the major philanthropists in the United States during his lifetime. His largest donations went to the University of Rochester and to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to build their programs and facilities. Preferring to remain anonymous, he made donations under
6270-475: The company negotiated a $ 300 million loan from KKR . A number of divisions were sold off to repay debts from previous investments, most notably the Kodak Health Group, one of the company's profitable units. Kodak used the $ 2.35 billion from the sale to fully repay its approximately $ 1.15 billion of secured term debt. Around 8,100 employees from the Kodak Health Group transferred to Onex, which
6380-409: The company to fall behind rivals Polaroid and Xerox in the development of instant cameras and photocopiers . Kodak would begin selling its own versions of each in the mid-1970s, but neither became popular. Both product lines would be abandoned in the 1990s. Japanese competitor Fujifilm entered the U.S. market with lower-priced film and supplies in the 1980s. Fuji defeated Kodak in a bid to become
6490-416: The company would restructure, and he was succeeded by George M. C. Fisher, a former Motorola CEO, later that year. Under Fisher, the company abandoned diversification in chemicals and focused on an incremental shift to digital technology. Tennessee Eastman was spun off as Eastman Chemical on January 1, 1994, and Sterling Drug's remaining operations were sold in August 1994. Eastman Chemical later became
6600-507: The concept of an industrial community that Eastman sought to create. These practices were not seriously challenged until after World War II . As a consequence of this shared background and the robust company benefits, Kodak employees formed a close community that viewed unions as outsiders, and no attempt to organize workers at Kodak succeeded during the 20th century. Kodak was hard-hit by the Great Depression , although Rochester
6710-627: The de facto segregation which existed in Rochester. Kodak hired virtually no black employees during Eastman's lifetime, and a 1939 commission of the New York State Legislature on living conditions of African Americans found that Kodak had only a single black employee. The Eastman Dental Dispensary also rejected black applicants, and the Eastman Theater restricted black patrons to its balcony. Eastman rejected several requests to meet with NAACP representatives, including
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#17328025199756820-506: The digital camera market with its EasyShare family of digital cameras. By 2005, Kodak ranked No. 1 in the U.S. in digital camera sales, which surged 40% to $ 5.7 billion. The company also began selling digital medical image systems after acquiring the Israel-based companies Algotec Systems and OREX Computed Radiography. Despite the initial high growth in sales, digital cameras had low profit margins due to strong competition, and
6930-403: The dosage of radiation needed to take a photo. Kodak became closely tied to Rochester, where most of its employees resided, and was at the vanguard of welfare capitalism during the 1910s and 1920s. Eastman implemented a number of worker benefit programs, including a welfare fund to provide workmen's compensation in 1910 and a profit-sharing program for all employees in 1912. In 1919, he sold
7040-430: The emerging motion picture industry . When Thomas Edison and other film producers formed the Motion Picture Patents Company in 1908, Eastman negotiated for Kodak to be sole supplier of film to the industry. In 1914, Kodak built its current headquarters on State Street. By 1922, the company was the second-largest purchaser of silver in the United States, behind the U.S. Treasury . Beginning on July 18, 1930, Kodak
7150-814: The establishment of the Eastman Dental Dispensary in Rochester. He donated £200,000 in 1926 to fund a dental clinic in London after being approached by the chairman of the Royal Free Hospital , George Riddell, 1st Baron Riddell . Donations of £50,000 each had been made by Lord Riddell and the Royal Free honorary treasurer. On November 20, 1931, the UCL Eastman Dental Institute opened in a ceremony attended by Neville Chamberlain , then Minister of Health, and
7260-546: The event of war between Germany and the United States. The company produced film, fuses, triggers , detonators , and other material. Slave labor was employed at Kodak AG's Stuttgart and Berlin-Kopenick plants. During the German occupation of France, Kodak-Pathé facilities in Severan and Vincennes were also used to support the German war effort. Kodak continued to import goods to the United States purchased from Nazi Germany through neutral nations such as Switzerland. This practice
7370-483: The family gave up the farm and moved to Rochester in 1860. His father died of a brain disorder on April 27, 1862. To survive and afford George's schooling, his mother took in boarders. The second daughter, Katie, had contracted polio when young and died in late 1870 when George was 15 years old. The young George left school early and started working to help support the family. As Eastman began to have success with his photography business, he vowed to repay his mother for
7480-423: The federal government for damage caused to film products. Kodak was later contracted to create emulsions for radiation tests of fallout from nuclear tests. Kodak reached its zenith in the post-war era , as the usage of film for amateur, commercial, and government purposes all increased. In 1948, Tennessee Eastman created a working acetate film , which quickly replaced nitrate film in the movie industry because it
7590-556: The film camera market altogether, and began to end the production of film products. In total, 13 film plants and 130 photo finishing facilities were closed, and 50,000 employees laid off between 2004 and 2007. In 2009, Kodak announced that it would cease selling Kodachrome color film, ending 74 years of production, after a dramatic decline in sales. Pérez invested heavily in digital technologies and new services that capitalized on its technology innovation to boost profit margins. He also spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build up
7700-531: The film industry. Eastman was a major philanthropist, establishing the Eastman School of Music , Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra , and schools of dentistry and medicine at the University of Rochester and Eastman Dental Hospital at University College London , and making large contributions to the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), the construction of several buildings at the second campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on
7810-655: The film market. This razor and blades model of sales would change little for several decades. Larger facilities were soon needed in Rochester, and the construction of Kodak Park began in 1890. Kodak purchased and opened several shops and factories in Europe , particularly in the United Kingdom . The British holdings were initially organized under the Eastman Photographic Materials Company. Beginning in 1898, they were placed under
7920-425: The first marketed integral tripack film. During World War I , Eastman established a photographic school in Rochester to train pilots for aerial reconnaissance . In an era of growing trade union activities, Eastman sought to counter the union movement by anticipating worker demands. To this end, he implemented a number of worker benefit programs, including a welfare fund to provide workmen's compensation in 1910 and
8030-452: The hardships she had endured in raising him. While working as a bank clerk in the 1870s, Eastman became interested in photography. After receiving lessons from George Monroe and George Selden , he developed a machine for coating dry plates in 1879. In 1881, he founded the Eastman Dry Plate Company with Henry Strong to sell plates, with Strong as company president and Eastman as treasurer, where he handled most executive functions. Around
8140-514: The holding company Kodak Limited. An Australian subsidiary, Australia Kodak Limited, was established in 1908. In 1931, Kodak-Pathé was established in France and Kodak AG was formed in Germany following the acquisition of Nagel . The Brownie camera, marketed to children, was first released in 1900, and further expanded the amateur photography market. One of the largest markets for film became
8250-453: The labor market. Eastman believed that offering these benefits served the interests of the company. He feared labor unions and believed that offering better compensation than that received by union workers would deter union organizing and avoid the potential costs of a company strike . Selling his stock to employees would simultaneously make it more appealing to investors, who were wary to purchase shares because of his large stake, and lower
8360-507: The last of which is distributed through the spinoff company Kodak Alaris . The company has licensed the Kodak brand to several products produced by other companies, such as the PIXPRO line of digital cameras manufactured by JK Imaging. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Kodak announced in late July that year it would begin production of pharmaceutical materials. The letter k
8470-503: The mansion for various purposes for decades after his death. In 1949, it re-opened after having been adapted for use as the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark , and is now known as the George Eastman Museum . Eastman's boyhood home was saved from destruction. It was restored to its state during his childhood and
8580-409: The market rapidly matured. Its digital cameras soon were undercut by Asian competitors that could produce and sell cheaper products. Many digital cameras were sold at a loss as a result. The film business, where Kodak enjoyed high profit margins, also continued to fall. The combination of these two factors caused a decline in profits. By 2007, Kodak had dropped to No. 4 in U.S. digital camera sales with
8690-549: The motion picture industry after signing new agreements with major studios in 2015 and 2020. In 2022, Kodak announced it would hire new film technicians after film photography experienced a revival among hobbyists. Kodak is currently arranged in four business reporting segments: Traditional Print, Digital Print, Advanced Material & Chemicals (including Motion Picture) and Brand (Brand licensing of consumer products produced by third parties). George Eastman George Eastman (July 12, 1854 – March 14, 1932)
8800-409: The name "was simply invented – made up from letters of the alphabet to meet our trade-mark requirements. It was short and euphonious and likely to stick in the public mind." The Kodak name was trademarked by Eastman in 1888. There was also a rumor that the name Kodak came from the sound made by the Kodak camera's shutter. Eastman entered a partnership with Henry Strong in 1880 and
8910-507: The official film of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics , which gave it a permanent foothold in the market. Fuji opened a film plant in the U.S. and its aggressive marketing and price cutting began taking market share from Kodak, rising from a 10% share in the early 1990s to 17% in 1997. Fuji also made headway into the professional market with specialty transparency films such as Velvia and Provia , which competed with Kodak's signature professional product, Kodachrome . Encouraged by shareholders,
9020-476: The photographer mailed the camera back to the Eastman company in Rochester, along with $ 10. The company would process the film, make a print of each exposure, load another roll of film into the camera, and send the camera and the prints to the photographer. The separation of photo-taking from the difficult process of film development was novel and made photography more accessible to amateurs than ever before, and
9130-660: The price of the stock, which would keep anti-trust lawyers from investigating the company. Because Kodak was a capital-intensive industry with a low labor-cost ratio , employee benefits contributed less to the company's expenses than they would in other industries. Employment opportunities were not extended to all Rochesterians. The company almost exclusively hired workers of an Anglo-Saxon background under Eastman, and excluded Catholic immigrants, African-Americans , and Jews . Approximately one-third of employees were female. A system of family hiring, where children of employees would be hired to follow their parents, reinforced
9240-440: The processes for the first nitrocellulose film along with chemist Henry Reichenbach. A number of patent infringement lawsuits would preoccupy Eastman and his lawyers in subsequent years, including one from Reichenbach after he was fired in 1892. The largest lawsuit would come from rival film producer Ansco . Inventor Hannibal Goodwin had filed a patent for nitrocellulose film in 1887, prior to Eastman and Reichenbach's, but it
9350-489: The production of several products, including digital cameras, pocket video cameras, digital picture frames, and inkjet printers. As part of a settlement with the UK-based Kodak Pension Plan, Kodak agreed to sell its photographic film , commercial scanners, and photo kiosk operations, which were reorganized as a spinoff company, Kodak Alaris . The Image Sensor Solutions (ISS) division of Kodak
9460-459: The program. Research projects led to a number of new Kodak products in the 1930s. At Kodak Research Laboratories, Leopold Godowsky Jr. and Leopold Mannes invented a three-color film which would be commercially viable. In 1935, the product was launched as Kodachrome . The company also produced industrial high-speed cameras and began to diversify its chemical operations by producing vitamin concentrates and plastics . In 1934, Kodak entered
9570-451: The same time, he began experiments to create a flexible film roll that could replace plates altogether. In 1885, he received a patent for a film roll, and then focused on creating a camera to use the rolls. In 1888, he patented and released the Kodak camera ("Kodak" being a word Eastman created). It was sold loaded with enough roll film for 100 exposures. When all the exposures had been made,
9680-465: The two companies began in 1997, eating into Kodak's profits. Kodak's financial results for 1997 showed that the company's revenues dropped from $ 15.97 billion in 1996 to $ 14.36 billion in 1997, a fall of more than 10%; its net earnings went from $ 1.29 billion to just $ 5 million for the same period. Kodak's market share declined from 80.1% to 74.7% in the United States, a one-year drop of five percentage points. Fuji and Kodak recognized
9790-408: The upcoming threat of digital photography, and although both sought to diversify as a mitigation strategy, Fuji was more successful at diversification. Fuji stopped production of motion picture film in 2013, leaving Kodak as the last major producer. Kodak employee Steven Sasson developed the first handheld digital camera in 1975. Larry Matteson, another employee, wrote a report in 1979 predicting
9900-414: The war. In 1945, a batch of X-ray film that the company processed mysteriously became fogged. Julian Webb, who had worked at Oak Ridge, proposed that the film had been exposed to radiation released by nuclear weapons tests . The source of the radiation was eventually traced to strawboard packaging from Vincennes, Indiana, which had been irradiated by fallout that had traveled thousands of miles northeast from
10010-402: Was a favorite of George Eastman 's; he is quoted as saying, "it seems a strong, incisive sort of letter ." He and his mother, Maria, devised the name Kodak using an Anagrams set. Eastman said that there were three principal concepts he used in creating the name: it should be short, easy to pronounce, and not resemble any other name or be associated with anything else. According to a 1920 ad,
10120-484: Was an American entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream. After a decade of experiments in photography, he patented and sold a roll film camera, making amateur photography accessible to the general public for the first time. Working as the treasurer and later president of Kodak, he oversaw the expansion of the company and
10230-509: Was buried in the grounds of the company he founded, at what is now known as Eastman Business Park . The Security Trust Company of Rochester was the executor of Eastman's estate. His entire estate was bequeathed to the University of Rochester. Eastman disdained public notoriety and sought to tightly control his image. He was reluctant to share information in interviews, and on multiple occasions both Eastman and Kodak blocked biographers from full access to his records. A definitive biography
10340-404: Was created by Marion Folsom, who gained national recognition for his work and would later serve as a company director and cabinet secretary for Dwight D. Eisenhower . Payments were made between 1933 and 1936, when layoffs ended at Kodak. The program led to many statistical improvements at Kodak, but overall had an insignificant effect on the Rochester community, as few companies were willing to join
10450-491: Was criticized by many American diplomats, but defended by others as more beneficial to the American war effort than detrimental. Kodak received no penalties during or after the war for collaboration. After a 1943 meeting between Kenneth Mees and Leslie Groves , a team of Kodak scientists joined the Manhattan Project and enriched Uranium-235 at Oak Ridge . Kodak's experiments with radiation would continue after
10560-525: Was developed by RYDE Holding, Inc., and the Kodak Kashminer , a Bitcoin -mining computer which was developed by Spotlite. In 2016, the Kodak spinoff company eApeiron was founded with assets acquired from Kodak and an investment by Alibaba . The company's mission is to eliminate “knock offs” and promote authenticity. Despite the pivot to digital technology, film remains a major component of Kodak's business. The company continues to supply film to
10670-475: Was finally published in 1996. Eastman is the only person represented by two stars in the Film category in the Hollywood Walk of Fame , one on the north side of the 6800 block of Hollywood Boulevard and the other one on the west side of the 1700 block of Vine Street . Both recognize the same achievement, that he developed bromide paper , which became a standard of the film industry. The Eastman Quadrangle of
10780-602: Was included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average . During World War I , Kodak established a photographic school in Rochester to train pilots for aerial reconnaissance . The war strained supply chains, and Eastman sought out new chemical sources the company could have direct control over. At the war's end in 1920, Kodak purchased a hardwood distillation plant in Tennessee from the federal government and established Eastman Tennessee, which later became
10890-548: Was introduced in 1954 with the model 022. They most often featured Schneider Kreuznach Reomar lenses but, sometimes, Rodenstock Reomar lenses were installed. The Rodenstock lenses were based on the original Schneider Kreuznach triplet (three optical element) design. Kodak Anastigmat Angénieux lenses were also used especially for the French market. Common shutters included Compur–Rapid as well as various Pronto , Vero and Kodak models. . This camera-related article
11000-529: Was later renamed the Center for Governmental Research and continues to carry out that mission. In 1924, Eastman and the Bureau supported a referendum to change Rochester's government to a city manager system, which passed. In 1920, Eastman established the Eastman Savings and Loan to provide financial services to Kodak employees. The institution was later rechartered as ESL Federal Credit Union . In
11110-407: Was little long-term planning or assistance from outside experts, and most of them resulted in large losses. Another effort to diversify failed when Kodak purchased Sterling Drug in 1988 at a cost of $ 5.1 billion. The drug company was overvalued and soon lost money. Research and development at Kodak Research Laboratories was directed into digital technology during the 1980s, laying the groundwork for
11220-506: Was non-flammable. In 1958, Kodak began marketing a line of super glue, Eastman 910 . Its cameras were used by NASA for space exploration. In 1963, the first Instamatic cameras were sold, which were the company's lowest-cost cameras to date. Annual sales passed $ 1 billion in 1962 and $ 2 billion in 1966. Albert K. Chapman succeeded Thomas Hargrave as president in 1952, and was succeeded by William S. Vaughn in 1960. Louis K. Eilers would serve as president and CEO between 1969 and 1972. In
11330-434: Was not granted until 1898. Ansco purchased the patent in 1900 and sued Kodak for infringement. Kodak ultimately lost the suit, which lasted over a decade and cost the company $ 5 Million. Eastman paid close attention to Kodak's advertisements. He coined the slogan, “ You press the button, we do the rest ”, which became ubiquitous in the general public. As Kodak pursued a monopoly on film through patents and acquisitions,
11440-454: Was rapidly using up its cash reserves, stoking fears of bankruptcy; it had $ 957 million in cash in June 2011, down from $ 1.6 billion in January 2001. Later that year, Kodak reportedly explored selling off or licensing its vast portfolio of patents to stave off bankruptcy. In December 2011, two board members who had been appointed by KKR resigned. By January 2012, analysts suggested that
11550-469: Was renamed Carestream Health . In 2010, Kodak was removed from the S&P 500 . In the face of growing debts and falling revenues, Kodak also turned to patent litigation to generate revenue. In 2010, it received $ 838 million from patent licensing that included a settlement with LG . Between 2010 and 2012, Kodak and Apple sued each other in multiple patent infringement lawsuits. By 2011, Kodak
11660-429: Was sold to Truesense Imaging Inc. On September 3, 2013, Kodak announced that it emerged from bankruptcy as a technology company focused on imaging for business. Its main business segments would be Digital Printing & Enterprise and Graphics, Entertainment & Commercial Films. Kodak's decline and bankruptcy were damaging to the Rochester area. Its jobs were largely replaced with lower-paying ones, contributing to
11770-505: Was spared from its worst effects as banks were able to remain solvent. Seventeen percent of the company's employees were laid off between 1929 and 1933. Company founder George Eastman committed suicide at his home on March 14, 1932, due to his declining health. From 1931 to 1936, Kodak participated in the Rochester Plan, a privately funded unemployment insurance program to assist the jobless and boost consumer spending. The program
11880-431: Was sustained during the 20th century by new innovations in film and cameras, including the Brownie camera, which was marketed to children. Eastman took interest in color photography in 1904, and funded experiments in color film production for the next decade. The resulting product, created by John Capstaff, was a two-color process named Kodachrome. Later, in 1935, Kodak would release the more famous second Kodachrome ,
11990-458: Was the employer of choice for most. The company continued offering higher wages and more benefits than labor market competitors, including the annual wage dividend, a bonus for all employees which typically amounted to 15% of base salary. Employee loyalty was strong, and the company experienced a turnover rate of only 13% in the 1950s, compared to 50% for American manufacturers as a whole. Journalist Curt Gerling noted that Kodak employees behaved like
12100-433: Was visiting to collect insurance payments from several members of the staff. He arrived at the scene to find the workforce shocked and upset. At least one chronicler said that Eastman's fear of senility or other debilitating diseases of old age was a contributing factor to his action. Eastman's funeral was held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Rochester; his coffin was carried out to Charles Gounod 's "Marche Romaine". It
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