Summary

Black and white, sepia toned photograph of Kodak executive staff, Kodak Australasia, Abbotsford, Victoria, circa 1920s.

Standing in the back row from left to right [surname mentioned where first name is unknown]: Roy Graves, Saggers, White, Walter Burke, Beaucleuf, Slocombe, Edgar Rouse and Alec Thompson. Seated in the front row from left to right: Muirhead, John Sutherland and JJ Rouse, Fred Manning [one remaining people at end of row, unidentified].

John Joseph (JJ) Rouse was an accountant who went into partnership with pharmaceutical chemist, Thomas Baker, in 1884 to develop the photographic manufacturing company, Baker and Rouse Pty Ltd. In 1907 Baker and Rouse proposed a merger with Eastman Kodak and in 1908, Australian Kodak Limited was formed and evolved to become what is known in 2010 as Kodak Australasia. JJ Rouse played an important role in Kodak Australasia for many years, becoming a managing director along with Thomas Baker. Edgar Rouse was the only son of JJ Rouse. When his father died in 1938, Edgar Rouse succeeded him as chairman and chief managing director of Kodak Australasia until his own retirement in 1959.

F J Muirhead was appointed branch manager of Kodak in Hobart in May 1915. He went on to become branch manager of Perth, then Adelaide in the 1920s and Melbourne branch manager from 1933 to1940. H C Slocombe was appointed branch manager of Kodak in Melbourne in 1905. In November 1932 Slocombe was appointed company secretary of Kodak in Abbotsford. John Sutherland was company secretary of Kodak from 1919 and in July 1929, he was appointed as a director.

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

Portrait of a group of thirteen men, five seated at the front and eight posed standing. There is a curtain backdrop and a table is positioned in front of the central seated figure.

Physical Description

Black and white, sepia toned photograph, printed on medium weight paper, landscape format. Photograph has been adhered to a piece of dark brown paper, possibly from an album.

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