Watch a Compilation of Classic Kodak Commercials from the 1950s and 60s

The folks over at The Phoblographer have uncovered a great “blast from the past” on YouTube: a compilation of old Kodak camera commercials from the 1950s and 60s that’ll have you yearning for simpler times … when it was much more complicated to take an actual photograph.

The commercials cover cameras from the Signet 40, to the Brownie Turret, the Kodak Pony, the Retina Reflex, the Brownie Starflash, and beyond. All of the cameras covered in this 16-minute compilation come from the late 1950s and early 60s, when Kodak was the biggest game in town, and almost all of them start with the sound of people applauding over a photo of a Kodak box. Simpler times indeed.

One commercial we didn’t see in the compilation above is this quaint, emotional appeal that’s trying to get a mom to buy the Kodak Brownie Movie Camera for “only $29.95,” or about $275 by today’s currency.

Or the famous “Turn Around” ad which posited that all it takes to capture a childhood is “a camera, Kodak film, and thoughtfulness”:

Like the old Polaroid SX-70 commercial we shared a few weeks ago, these old ads offer a break from the fast-paced spec wars of digital photography. A nostalgic look back at a time when product placement was king, and you could secure a professional grade camera for “as little as $8 down.”

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