Life, 1926-10-07 · page 29 of 44
Life — October 7, 1926 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not satire or political commentary**—it's a straightforward product advertisement from Life magazine for Kodak's new home movie camera system (the Ciné-Kodak). The page promotes amateur filmmaking as an accessible hobby. Two men are shown holding the camera at different angles ("Hold eye level or waist high"), demonstrating how easy it is to operate. The film strip displayed shows typical home-movie subjects: family scenes and outdoor activities. The appeal is democratic: ordinary people can now make and watch their own movies affordably—one-sixth the cost of professional filmmaking. The tagline "If it isn't an Eastman, it isn't a Ciné-Kodak" emphasizes brand authority. This reflects 1920s consumer culture enthusiasm: new technology making entertainment accessible to middle-class households. The "sport" framing suggests recreational appeal to modernizing American consumers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A New Sport— Movies with a Kodak . 73349 3dODSSOE Hold eye level or waist Hold waist high or eye high — and just pros level — and just pres the release, the release, HE ease of it all is amazing. Press the release on the Ciné-Kodak —you’re making movies. ‘Turn the switch on your Kodascope—you’re showing movies. And the cost of operation is only one-sixth that of ‘‘standard’’ movies. The fun of it all is enticing. There you are in a close-up (you’ve always wanted to know how you’d look on the screen). Or there’s the family atthe shore. From the comfortable depths of your easy chair you’re seeing all this. How real it all is in the movies! The play’s the thing— the photoplay that you make yourself. And that’s only half the story. When you want to vary your program, you rent a professional release from a Kodascope Library—there’s a list of over 400 films from which to choose. The Ciné-Kodak Model B, with Kodak Anastigmat 6.5 lens, is priced at $70; with Kodak Anastigmat /. 3.5, at an even hundred. The Kodascope C projector is $60. A complete outfit now—Ciné-Kodak, Kodascope and screen—as low as $140. The thousands of Kodak dealers are now prepared to demonstrate the Ciné-Kodak. If your dealer is not yet ready, write us for Ciné-Kodak booklets. If it isn’t an Eastman, it isn’t a Ciné-Kodak To show the movie, just turn on the reitch Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N. Y., Te Kodak City comicbooks.com