Kodak Carousel Projector History
Long before digital photography came into being, the best images in the world created by amateurs and pros alike were slides. These were positive images recorded primarily on 35mm film such as Kodachrome, and later, Ektachrome from Kodak and other brands from other companies.
History
Kodak introduced slide film, Kodachrome, in 1934, but it wasn't widely used for years. When it did start to catch on, each film frame was mounted in cardboard. These mounted slides could be printed, but most people preferred to project them on the wall or a screen. At first, the slides were placed in the projector one by one. As the popularity of slides grew, slide stacks were used. These essentially were long boxes that held slides and loaded them into the projector. It wasn't until 1961, however, that Kodak introduced the carousel projector.
Basics
The carousel is essentially a doughnut, or ring, of slides. It can hold 20, 36, 80 or 140 slides. It mounts on top of the slide projector. The carousel drops a slide into the projector, then pops it back out, moves the carousel a step and drops the next slide in. The carousel projector had a remote control that allowed the presenter to change slides with the click of a button during the show.
History
Louis Misuraca created the first carousel projector for Kodak for which he received a flat fee--he did not receive any royalties. It became popular throughout the 1960s when Kodachrome was at its height. This film, immortalized in the eponymous song by Paul Simon, had such distinctive colors that photos printed from the film were lower in quality. Most people simply bought the carousels, inserted their slides and gave home slide shows for friends and family.
Features
Apart from allowing sequential presentation of the slides, the carousels themselves became storage units. Each came in a sturdy box and cover, and people tended to leave them full of the slides in their preferred sequence in these boxes. They labeled the boxes and kept them on shelves, from which they easily could be retrieved and mounted on the projector without having to be resorted each time.
The End
Over the years, Kodak made some changes to the carousel projector. These included increasing the slide capacity to 140 slides and fixing the slide-changing mechanism to diminish the chance for slide jams. After a solid run of popularity with the public, Kodak discontinued the carousel slide projector in 2004, 43 years after its invention.
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