Kodak Australasia Staff - Digital Stories - Noel Swan, 1942-1948

Kodak Melbourne Memories - Noel Swan, 1942-1948

This 3:10 minute digital story tells the story of Noel Swan and his time working for Kodak Australasia at the Abbotsford factory.

Noel Swan started work in the Developing and Printing (D & P) Department at Abbotsford when he was 16 years old, during World War II. He initially developed film and mixed chemicals.

He then transferred to the Airgraph & Victory Mail (V-Mail) section which managed microfilmed letters, designed to reduce the weight of mail during the war when air transport was restricted.

Noel subsequently joined the Royal Australian Air Force, in 1943. When he returned from service after the war, in 1946, Noel went back to his old job in the D & P.

During his time at Kodak, Noel started a staff basketball team which competed with other industry teams such as the Carlton and United Brewery team. In 1948 he left Kodak to become a travelling salesman with another company.

Noel Swan was interviewed as part of the Kodak oral history project. This digital story is an edited extract from his original 88-minute oral history interview.

The images shown are part of the Kodak collection of products, promotional materials, photographs and working life artefacts collected from Kodak Australasia in 2005, after the Melbourne manufacturing plant at Coburg closed down.

For further information about Noel Swan and the Kodak Australasia Heritage Collection scroll down for more articles and images.