Summary

Black and white, silver gelatin, sepia toned photograph of members of the Staff Service Bulletin team at the Kodak Australasia factory, Abbotsford, Victoria, 23 May 1942.

Back row from left: Jack Street, Hazel Raff, Edgar Rouse (Kodak Managing Director). Front row from left: J Percy, Nell Cameron, Jean Middleton, Marge Borchardt (Bedgood), Zoe Kerr (Blyth).

Edgar Rouse was the only son of John (JJ) Rouse, who was managing director of Kodak Australasia from 1908 until his death in 1938. After JJ Rouse's death, Edgar Rouse succeeded him as chairman and chief managing director of Kodak Australasia until his own retirement in 1959.

The Abbotsford factory was initially the site of the Austral Plate Company, created by Thomas Baker, a pharmaceutical chemist, in 1884. After Baker went into partnership with accountant, John Rouse, to develop the photographic manufacturing company, Baker and Rouse Pty Ltd, they proposed a merger with Eastman Kodak in 1907. In 1908, Australian Kodak Limited was formed and evolved to become what is known today as Kodak Australasia. The Abbotsford site remained the base for the operations of Kodak Australasia until the late 1950s.

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

Group portrait of eight people in a garden setting. Five women are seated on a long bench at the front. Standing at the rear is a woman with a man on either side of her. The group is located on a grass lawn covered in leaves, and the foliage of trees or shrubs is behind them.

Physical Description

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

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