The latest batch of “found film” comes from Belleville, Illinois. This roll was one of those 126 cartridges they used to put in Kodak Instamatics – in this case a Kodak Instamatic 15F, where the film still resided when I got it:
Judging from the cars in the photos, the film is not all that old, which is why it turned out OK despite being color film (it was a gamble on my part).
But it seems that a retired couple took this camera with them on a trip to Las Vegas. They must have stayed in the Mirage, and snapped a couple of shots from their window, around the 4th floor or so? The second is in black and white as I experimented with Photoshop to see how to get the best detail. The photos all had a blue cast to them – probably the blue dyes degrade the slowest over time.
While they were at the Mirage, they may have met a friend, who posed for this photo the way people this age often do. It’s posing in front of a background and trying to look casual – typically leaning on a railing. You know what I’m talking about.
Here is the traveling couple, posing for a photo in the parking lot. Who’s snapping the pictures? Is it the lady above? Was she traveling with them all along?
I’m guessing they went in the winter, unless the shot below was not taken immediately before the trip. When they got to Vegas it was still cool, which is why he had to wear a sweatshirt. Go Cardinals!
We don’t know if their trip was not very memorable, or maybe they got a new camera, or maybe something else happened in their lives – but for some reason, they never bothered to develop this roll of film. They left the roll in the camera with 3 more photos on the roll.
