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earliest ads for Kodak cameras often depicted women using them. No doubt this
was meant to reinforce the idea of how easy it was to take pictures with a Kodak---even
a woman could do it. As a professional photographer in the 70's struggling
to have a photojournalism career in New York City, I was instantly drawn to vintage
Kodak ads from the moment I first laid eyes on them at an antique show. The women photographers in 1920's ads and earlier appeared vibrant, adventurous and knowledgeable about their photographic equipment. Unlike later ads in which beautiful women merely posed with a camera, the earlier ads showed independent women raveling and photographing the world. The slogans accompanying the ads such as "Kodak As You Go" reinforced the idea of of an energetic woman on the go. In an effort to make the name Kodak synonymous with photography, Kodak was used as the verb "to Kodak" as well as a noun "the Kodak" . A photographer was a "Kodaker". Kodak hired renowned artists and photographers, both men and women, to create their ads. Many of their works are fine examples of the best advertising art of the times. |
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| 1890 | 1890 |
 1891 |
 1893 |