I can't offer an exact answer, but...
1. I have some old prints and negs that my grandmother shot, probably
prior to World War 1. These are in an envelope with the name and address
of a photography studio on it. I suspect that the studio did processing
for snapshooters as another revenue stream. They appear to be contact
prints, so they would have been full frame.
2. I have some family B&W prints that were processed via the local
drugstore, probably in the 1950's. These prints are in the form of a
strip fanfolded with perforations between the prints. I can't imagine
the local drugstore having the capability to do this; I suspect they
were "out-labbed".
3. I've seen photos of the Kodak lab from the 1970's. The negatives were
printed on long rolls of photo paper by a machine that made a "best
guess" at the exposure, with an operator who could override the machine.
The roll paper was then fed through a processor, and a quality control
operator was at the output with a grease pencil ready to "X" any prints
that he felt should be remade.
4. I owned a 1980's Hope brand daylight color minilab. The machine was
loaded with roll paper, and made a guess at the exposure and filtration.
It could be easily fooled if there was too much of one color or density.
I always kept records of the exposure and filtration so that I could
adjust remakes. (The machine also required 6 gallons per minute of
water, 15 gallons each of two chemicals, and wasted four feet of paper
to load it! I was thrilled when I finally scrapped it and the recycling
center paid me $50 for scrap metal!)
Ken Hart
kwhart1@xxxxxxxxxxxx
On 03/17/2016 10:43 PM, Harlan Chapman wrote:
Do any of you know how "drugstore" black and white snapshot prints were made?
I'm curious about how the framing, focus, exposure time, and contrast control (if any) was handled?
All automated, or was an operator involved?
Thank you,
-Harlan
