Life, 1929-02-08 · page 31 of 44
Life — February 8, 1929 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a cartoon or satire**, but rather a **straightforward advertisement** for Kodak's home movie camera (Ciné-Kodak), appearing in Life magazine. The page promotes the emotional appeal of filming children at play—emphasizing that such footage becomes precious as a family record once children grow up. Two photographs show children engaged in outdoor winter activities (skiing/sledding and playing in snow). The advertisement's pitch centers on: - **Simplicity**: The camera is easy to operate ("just look into the finder and press a lever") - **Emotional nostalgia**: Home movies preserve childhood moments lost to time - **New color technology**: Kodacolor film allows natural-color home movies - **Affordability**: Camera kits starting at $140 There is no political or social satire here. This is typical mid-20th-century consumer advertising leveraging parental sentiment and technological innovation to drive sales of home recording equipment—a relatively new capability for ordinary households at that time.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
What a fascinating movie for today and later years! Cx you think of any movie that would thrill you more than your own young- sters romping with their playmates? There is no posing, no acting up, no self-consciousness. They are engaged in the supreme business of their lives . . . play. Every little trait of character de- cares itself. Every little expression of personality comes to the surface. At no other time are they so much themselves. But while this film of your children at play may thrill and fascinate you today, imagine what your emotions will be upon seeing it years from now when the young- sters are all grown up. Today you can watch their fun whether you have the flm or not, but tomorrow, with childhood swallowed up in adolescence and maturity, it will be your only window tothe peeious past. n't let the opportunit slip by. Here's the chance Hu make a priceless record of their childhood days. So Easy to Make Home Movies! Undoubtedly you've seen prorle using Ciné-Kodak, Didn't it look easy to oper- ate? Could anything have been simpler? All they did was look into the finder and press a lever. Nothing more than you do totakea snapshot. Unbiased by the precedents and preju- dices of professional cinema camera design, the men who made still photography so simple have now made ome movie making equally simple for you. Make Them in Color, Too! And now, another Eastman development —Kodacolor—enables you to make home movies in full natural color. With the Ciné-Kodak f.1.9., a filter and Kodacolor Film you can make the most beautiful ivingporeraits. When you project the film, you sce your dear ones as they actually are, with all thecolor,eventhe delicate flesh tones, absolutely true to life. You simply use a color filter when making or projecting Kodacolor. Ciné-Kodak Simplest of Home Movie Cameras Also, to supplement your own films, Kodak Cinegraphs, 100-, 200- and 400-foot reels of comedy, travel and cartoons, are available at your dealer's. They cost only $7.50 per 100 feet. You'd like to have movies of your loved ones, of course. And you can have them— unless you let neglect or indifference get the better of your intentions. Your Ciné- Kodak dealer can show you outfits—Ciné- Kodak, Kodascope and screen—that cost as little as $140. Write as well for an interesting booklet that explains home movies in detail. . . . EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY Dept. 188, Rochester, N. Y, Please send me, FREE and without obligation, the booklet telling me bow I can easily make my own movies, Name. comicbooks.com