Summary
Black and white sepia toned photograph of the Kodak Australasia factory in Abbotsford, Victoria, during World War II, 1939--1945.
Women are cutting V-Mail letters with guillotines in the processing laboratories at the Kodak factory. These letters had been written by soldiers serving overseas and were then microfilmed to reduce space while transporting them back to Australia. At Kodak in Abbotsford these microfilms were then enlarged, printed, cut into separate letters, then packed and sent to the soldiers' families to read. 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
Four women cutting letters with hand operated guillotines in the processing laboratories at Kodak. The women are seated at wooden desks, and each desk has a device for holding a long roll of uncut letters sitting on its right hand edge. Cut letters are lying on the desks.
Physical Description
Black and white, sepia toned, silver gelatin photograph printed on medium weight paper, landscape format with a white border.
More Information
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Collection Names
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Collecting Areas
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Acquisition Information
Donation from Kodak (Australasia) Pty Ltd, Ms. Kate Metcalf - Kodak (Australasia) Pty Ltd, 2005
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Acknowledgement
Courtesy of Kodak (Australasia) Pty Ltd.
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Place & Date Depicted
Kodak (Australasia) Pty Ltd, Abbotsford, Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1939-1945
Ex Kodak executives Ed Wood and John Mitcham suggested the date and explained the microfilm letter history. -
Organisation Depicted
Kodak (Australasia) Pty Ltd, Abbotsford, Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1939-1945
Ex Kodak executives Ed Wood and John Mitcham suggested the date and explained the microfilm letter history. -
Format
Photograph, Black & White
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Inscriptions
Back, blue ink: 'CUTTING LETTERS'
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Classification
Manufacturing & industry, Photographic products, Factory interior views
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Category
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Discipline
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Type of item
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Image Dimensions - Photograph
145 mm (Width), 104 mm (Height)
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Keywords
Correspondence, Factories, Manufacturing Plants, Photography, Rationing, Staff, War Effort, Making History - Kodak Collection, World War II, 1939-1945