Ease of film loading was touted as the major advantage of 126 as can stated in this period ad. Back then, a lot of snapshots had some degree of edge fog due to improper loading (you were supposed to do it in the shade). Kodak surely knew this and figured maybe film loading was an impediment to picture taking for some people. The Pittsburgh Press - May 21, 1963 Kodak's Instamatic Camera $11.35 The news is what you don't do! No threading or fumbling, with Kodak's Instamatic cameras all you do is drop the film cartridge in the camera. (even load in bright sunlight) And there's nothing to think about but the picture. Other articles I found say Kodak's profits increased greatly in 1963, due to the tremendous success of 126. The other big photo news that year was the introduction of Polaroid color film. --- Rollei List - Post to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx - Subscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'subscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org - Unsubscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org - Online, searchable archives are available at //www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list