The Kodak Company was started  by George Eastman. Eastman, an American, was throughly fascinated with still photography and cameras. He always believed the still camera was an amazing invention, but thought that it did need to be improved. Eastman felt that the cameras of his day were too bulky, heavy, and not user friendly to the average person; so in 1879 he left the United States for London to start a company that would solve this problem and revolutionize the photography industry.

At the time, London was the “…center of the photographic and business world and so it was the perfect place to start a new business. Eastman received his first patent for the plate-coating machine in 1879. The plate-coating machine, a quicker more efficient way to get pictures on film in the camera, was just a stepping stone in creating cameras for everyday people.

In 1880, new inventions and patents by Eastman impressed a fellow photography businessman, Henry A. Strong. Strong was so impressed by Eastman, that he invested into Eastman’s company to form a partnership. The new partnership produced The Eastman Dry Plate Company. Because of this new partnership and responsibilities, Eastman decided to resign from his part-time job at Rochester(England) Savings Bank and put all of his concentration into improving cameras, film, and photo developing.

In 1895 The Pocket KODAK Camera was announced. It used roll film and incorporated a small window through which positioning numbers for exposures could be read. Pocket Kodaks were extremely small (2 and 3/16 x 3 x 4 inches) and lightweight (6 ounces), and took 1½ x 2 inch exposures on 102 size rollfilm, introduced just for this camera. They were first available in 1895 with either black or red leather covering.

Original Price was $5.00   Estimated Value  $ 300.00