Gypsy Creams
Kodak
Woman's Own / 4th April 1969
Horray for Super 8! Thanks to this instructive site, I can tell you that this was a Kodak Instamatic M12, the bottom of the Instamatic movie camera line, which took a Super 8 cartridge and had a single speed shutter. These cameras were an extension of the famous Instamatic photo camera range, which took 110 and 126 film, which I vaguely remember from my childhood, along with flashcubes. As the ad suggests, this was a reasonably-priced home-cine camera, which is probably a good indication of when home movie-making began to become a popular activity, rather than one confined to professionals or the rich. An interesting article about Super 8 can be found here, and BBC Two recently broadcast the fascinating Home Movie Roadshow.
Tags: household, Kodak, retail, Super 8
4 Comments
Kif on 6 August 2011 @ 4pm
I was very lucky that my father’s hobby was amateur photography. He wasn’t very good but was enthusiastic. I was effectively his child stooge model but the (faintly embarrassing) result is that my childhood from the early fifties to the late sixties must have been one of the best documented childhoods, photographically, ever. I am left with a rich legacy of literally thousands of photos of me as a child. From age 1 to age 19, there I am, growing inch by inch. From baby curls to my first fumbling attempts to shave. I used to regard it as all rather embarrassing, as I am not a natural show off – but now I realise it was motivated by love and geekiness, and it had left me with a strong awareness of my very slowly unfolding spasms of physical maturity and my long journey from shy to (moderately) assertive. The many albums that have resulted are now treasured but I never hawk them round. It’s a private thing. But it gave me a useful awareness of my roots and an awareness of ‘self’ which has been useful. When Dad was old, I took many (hopefully tasteful) snaps of him in his retirement, to pay back the favour..
Tanya Jones on 6 August 2011 @ 11pm
I often think that it’s a shame that there aren’t more really nice snaps of me and my other half, but we’re both a bit camera shy and only get snapped when we’re slightly merry! Photos are things that you only really appreciate in hindsight. The snaps of my family in the ’60s and ’70s are treasured by me, as it documents a time that I know little about.
Kif on 7 August 2011 @ 9pm
It’s sad to have limited recall or information about your own childhood. I am very lucky to have not only the photos mentioned above, but very clear and many memories of childhood and events therein. And some teenage diaries. I am always unsettled when people (not a reference to you particularly) have limited childhood memories, as mine are so copious as to flood in on me if I sit down and conjure them up. I am very lucky to have an intimate working knowledge of my own roots. Also some childhood hobbies survive today and are kept up. Not bad, fifty years on. I treasure the photos and (limited) diaries, now that all my family, except one aunt, is dead..
Tim HJ on 26 July 2011 @ 8pm
How I wish my parents had bought one of these things! Back in April 1969 I was but a nipper of 14 months and I would love to have some movies to look back on to remember my childhood. Forty years on and I have probably hundreds of hours’ worth of footage of my own kids!