This newspaper’s call for “Kodak Memories” caught my eye months ago. But my story would only make sense if – and only if – I could locate the picture I had in mind. I searched high and low for this particular picture of my parents, Velma and Arthur (aka Spud”) Baase from Hamlin with my brother Paul and me touring the Box Department, which I believe was located at Kodak Park.
I was pleasantly surprised, however, when serendipity came to my rescue. In searing old Movie Maker videos that my brother Marc created, I found the picture I wanted. I think it was taken in 1955.
If I remember correctly, tours of the Box Department (and probably other departments) were regular events. We received tickets from a good friend of my mother’s, Evelyn Long, whose whole career was spent working at Kodak. My mother had worked there, too, but left after marrying my father in 1946.
But my mother’s “ties” to Kodak friends lasted for years. In fact, during the 1950s, she and my dad regularly hosted a summer party at our farm in Hamlin, so all her friends from Kodak could get a glimpse of farm life. Most of them lived in Rochester, so an excursion to the country was always a welcomed invitation. And, of course, there was always a bountiful supply of liquid refreshments kept cold in old metal wash tubs brimming with ice.
