Summary

Black and white, sepia toned photograph of the interior of the Kodak Australasia factory in Abbotsford, Victoria, during World War Two, 1939-1945.

A man (Wilfred Parker?) stands behind the paper processor machine, monitoring the equipment, while paper is threaded through a series of rollers. There are three glass cylinders with funnels beneath them, vertically positioned above the rollers. The paper is being printed with V-Mail letters that had been written by soldiers serving overseas. The letters were microfilmed to reduce space while transporting them back to Australia. At Kodak in Abbotsford these microfilms were then enlarged, printed, cut into separate letters, packed and sent to the soldiers' families to read. This photograph shows the second stage of this process. A series of four photographs show the processing of microfilmed letters at Kodak. See, in order, MM96604, then MM96606, MM96607, and MM96605.

Kodak manufactured and distributed a wide range of photographic products to Australasia, such as film, paper, chemicals, cameras and miscellaneous equipment. Its client base included amateur and professional photographers, as well as specialist medical and graphic art professionals who used photography, x-ray and other imaging techniques.

This photograph is part of the Kodak collection of products, promotional materials, photographs and working life artefacts collected from Kodak Australasia in 2005, when the Melbourne manufacturing plant at Coburg closed down.

Description of Content

The photograph features a machine with a series of rollers that has paper threaded through it. There is a vacuum hood above part of the machine and three glass cylinders containing coloured liquid positioned vertically at one end with funnels beneath them. Part of the motor is visible from the side. A man, wearing a tie and collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a dark waistcoat, is standing behind the machine, monitoring it.

Physical Description

Black and white, sepia toned, silver gelatin photograph printed on medium weight paper, landscape format with a white border.

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