It’s “Found Film Friday” again! When I share a roll of film that has been found and rescued from oblivion. No one has seen these photos before – not the people who took them, not the people on them. And now you get to see them…
Before I go into this week’s roll, I wonder if folks have heard about a much more famous roll of “found film” found not too long ago – lost pictures of Mount Saint Helens. Check it out – my mother-in-law sent the article from Eugene; it’s a pretty cool find.
This week’s roll is a roll of Verichrome Pan 620 film. Most cameras I’ve used with 620 film take 8 exposures, 6 by 9 cm each; but this roll had 9 6×6 exposures and 3 blank ones – where the flash probably failed to fire. The eBay seller said they had come from an estate in Syracuse, New York, and mentioned that there were negatives showing the Adirondacks and Atlantic City – so I was pleasantly surprised when I found they were all photos of people.
Film rolls of this type are basically a long piece of paper and a shorter piece of film, rolled together around a metal spool. Typically in an old roll the film may be difficult to uncurl, but this was the first roll where the backing paper was basically stuck to the film on both sides. Despite soaking it, residue was left on both sides of the film. So when I developed it, there were still rough areas and streaks of yellow paint from the yellow backing paper. After I scanned them, I thought I’d experiment with – of all things – nail polish remover. It actually removed the residue (and not the picture!), but the residue had also blocked the developer, so the yellow spots were replaced with clear spots. But I learned that nail polish remover, used gently, can be used to clean negatives.
So on to the photos. This was a family that liked to spend time around the dining room or kitchen table. That appears to have been the community gathering place.
Also, I thought at first they had taken a photo of a Christmas tree that had taken a tumble, but it seems like maybe it was a larger tree plus a smaller one? The kitchen table pictures made me think gritty, working class, maybe a bit lower income – but the tree appears to be well endowed with gifts. Nowadays, Christmas trees in the U.S. are loaded with gifts – but we weren’t as commercially oriented in the 1950s and 60s, I believe. Those were still pre-credit card times.
Here, one of the ladies has made a snack – no doubt it will be polished off by the kids on the couch!
And finally, the photos for which I named this photo roll. An airman, in uniform. I tried to do some research on the uniforms and time periods, but without color photos, it’s hard to judge whether this was the more grayish blue during the 1950s and early 1960s – Korean War era perhaps – or the darker blue of the later 1960s – Vietnam War era – and well beyond. The rank insignia – this was a junior enlisted airman – was used from the 1950s onward, so that doesn’t really help. So maybe someone out there who served in the Air Force can help. Anyway, he’s proud in his uniform, isn’t he?
