KODAK

                           The first camera was bought by George Eastman in 1874, when he was twenty four years old. It was to lead him to fame and fortune. Photography at that time him to fame and fortune. Photography at that time was not new. In fact, it had been over forty years earlier that the Frenchman Louis Daguerre, had invented the process. Professional photographers were already taking high quality pictures. The trouble was that taking and developing photographs was very large and chemically treated glass plates were used as a recording medium.

                            George Eastman loved photography. He also believed that everyone shoud be abe to enjoy it. He put his genius to work on the problem of making photography cheaper. His first discovery was light, flexible and inexpensive. Then he developed a simple box camera that anyone could operate. It was made to hold enough film for one hundred exposures.
                           
                              The first of Eastman's cameras, called Kodaks, went on sale in June, 1888. Loaded and ready for use, they only cost twenty-five dollars. In the beginning, when a film was used up, the owner had to send it, camera and all, to the single developing plant in Rochester, New York, for printing. Soon, however, refinements enabled film to be printed locally. The public loved the little Kodak camera and Eastman's dream of popular photography came true.