Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Eastman Kodak, NYWF July 1964

Welcome back to the New York World's Fair! 

Today I am featuring photos from the Eastmas Kodak pavilion. The name "Kodak" is associated with so many of the best times in people's lives... family gatherings, vacations, birthday parties, trips to Disneyland... you name it! Memories were preserved on Kodak film. I'm sure that Fairgoers from 1964 would have never believed that Kodak would be a mere shadow of its former self in 2012. It makes me a bit sad, to be honest.

Anyway, let's look at some images from happier times, when Kodak was one of the biggest,  most successful companies on the planet! The pavilion was distinctive, even at a Fair full of distinctive buildings! This row of graceful arches is topped with the five-sided Kodak Picture Tower, featuring giant (30' X 36') color prints made from 8" X 10" Ektacolor negatives.


The second level was an undulating "Moon Deck", a floating carpet of concrete featuring hills, valleys, and spires to provide interesting backdrops for all of the MANY photos you are going to want to take up there. Here's just one unusual view!


I like this shot highlighting some of the graceful spires that make me think of what buildings on another planet might look like.


And finally, a lovely shot taken at dusk! I have more pictures from the Eastman Kodak pavilion, so stay tuned...


13 comments:

TokyoMagic! said...

Does anyone know how often they changed those large photos on the sides of the pavilion?

Chiana_Chat said...

Kodak, before the age of the self-serving, unaccountable upper executive class.

The pic of the roofline, the "alien planet" one, is my fav. Seems we have never had a modern architecture since the mid-20th-century, just recycling mash-ups from people afraid of identity and style.

An 80' x 86' color print!??

Nancy said...

Arent these gorgeous?! I so love this Fair, always makes me sad that I never got to go to it.

I Was wondering that as well, how often the pictures changed. This person got the same ones at two very different times of the day.

So looking forward to more...thanks for bringing the smiles this morning :-D

Major Pepperidge said...

TokyoMagic!, one source said that the pictures were changed every 3 or 4 weeks.

Chiana, well you've caught me again… another lulu of a mistake! The prints were not 80' X 86', but were in fact 30' X 36'. Maybe it's my new compact keyboard, or maybe I bumped my head? The prints were created on 40" wide rolls of Ektacolor paper, and the 40" strips were then assembled in a manner similar to a billboard. They look seamless in almost every photo I've ever seen, though!

Nancy…. see my reply to TokyoMagic! I'm glad you liked these.

K. Martinez said...

I never got to go to the Fair either. I can only imagine the wonders this place held.
Great Moon Deck image. I look forward to the other Kodak images you mentioned. Thanks.

Bill Cotter said...

Here's an article on how they made those giant photos:

http://www.worldsfairphotos.com/nywf64/articles/misc/popular-science-may-1964.pdf

Kodak was a great pavilion. Thanks for highlighting it. Still so sad to see how things would turn out...

Bill

Pilsner Panther said...

I don't know when it was installed, but up until around 1980 Kodak had a very similar large display in the main hall of Grand Central Station. It was only one screen, but it was about the same size and probably used the same technology; it might have even been salvaged from the World's Fair.

Major Pepperidge said...

K Martinez, the Fair is definitely one of my "time machine" dream destinations!

Bill, THANKS, that's a great article!

Pilsner Panther, I have seen images of the display at Grand Central Station; Norman Rockwell composed a giant photograph for it, the only one he is known for (not counting his painting reference photos).

Chiana_Chat said...

No less a feat though, to develop and stitch segments from a picture back then. :)

Pegleg Pete said...

I actually have a small book about the Kodak display in Grand Central Station. The book is called 'Colorama' and it features around three dozen of the photographs that were shown in the station during the display's forty year run – 1950 to 1990. I've no idea if the book is still in print but it is a great selection of idealized scenes of life during the Cold War.

Pegleg Pete said...

I neglected to mention that the photographs in Grand Central Station were billed as 'The World's Largest Photographs' and were panoramic pictures unlike those on the World's Fair pavilion. The station's photographs were eighteen feet high and sixty feet wide and there were 565 of them on display over forty years.

Bill Cotter said...

Here's a view of one of the Kodak panoramas in Grand Central Station, circa 1965:

http://www.billcotter.com/misc/nyc-grand-central-65.jpg

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know where I can find the prize winning photos that were on display at the 1964 world's fair Kodak pavilion?