BROOKVILLE — To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Eastman Kodak, the company made a special camera that was distributed free through Kodak dealers in North America to children who were 12 years old in 1930.
The camera was based on the No. 2 Hawk-Eye premium camera with tan leatherette covering, gilt fittings and a gold foil anniversary sticker on its side. It used 120 film with a picture size of 2¼ x 3¼ inches. There were 557,000 Eastman Anniversary cameras made.
In Brookville, thirty children of the age of 12 were lined up at Harry B. Smith’s Drug Store at 7 a.m. waiting to receive their free cameras. Because Mr. Smith did not want to disappoint any child, he had purchased and gave away six more cameras than were furnished by Mr. Eastman.
None of those who were at the store when it opened were left without a camera.
The gift provided by Eastman Kodak was made with two ends in mind:
1. Sentimentally as a token of appreciation to parents and grandparents who for 50 years had played an important part in the development of amateur picture-taking in America and of the Eastman Kodak Company, which wanted to place in the hands of children and grandchildren an important educational and character-building force.
2. Business wise as a means of interesting hundreds of thousands more children in picture-taking. They wanted to raise amateur photography among the coming generations. As amateur photography would increase in popularity, the use of Kodak products would naturally increase with it.
The gift-giving period began on May 1, 1930 and extended into the month of May as long as the supply of 500,000 cameras lasted.
All information and the photo for this Look at Brookville article were supplied by the Brookville Historical Society. Do you have a photo or historical information to share or add? Please contact the Brookville Historical Society at 937-833-0285 or email to [email protected].
