Photographs Taken With Kodak's First Commercial Camera Are Now 125 Years Old

Remember when Kodak created its
first commercial camera, a nifty
invention that boasted the slogan
"You Press the Button, We Do the
Rest"?
Woman in a rowing boat, about 1890.
Collection of National Media Museum/
Kodak Museum
You probably don't, because this feat
happened 125 years ago when George
Eastman introduced the second Kodak
camera ever made. The contraption
looked almost nothing like the
devices we're used to, but it brought
photography into the homes of
everyday people with, well, the press
of a button. And a fairly reasonable
price of $25 -- a cost that amounts to
around $600 today, according to
Design Taxi.
Thanks to a little UK-based institution
known as the National Media
Museum, we're able to look back on
history and peruse some of the very
first amateur photographs ever taken.
Snapped with the Kodak No. 1 (the
first Kodak camera was simply named
"Kodak"), the images provide a
striking, black-and-white glimpse into
life in the 1890s.
Scroll through the photos below,
courtesy of National Media Museum's
Flickr Commons collection, and let us
know your thoughts on the images in
the comments.
Children paddling in the sea, about
1890. Collection of National Media
Museum/Kodak Museum
Baby elephant at the zoo, about 1890.
Collection of National Media Museum/
Kodak Museum
Children paddling in the sea, about
1890. Collection of National Media
Museum/Kodak Museum
Seated man reading a book, 1888.
Collection of National Media Museum/
Kodak Museum
Children walking with a
wheelbarrow, about 1890. Collection
of National Media Museum/Kodak
Museum
Two young girls, about 1890.
Collection of National Media Museum/
Kodak Museum
Boy paddling in the sea, about 1890.
Collection of National Media Museum/
Kodak Museum
Girl looking in a rock pool, about
1890. Collection of National Media
Museum/Kodak Museum
Two men on the deck of a ship, about
1890. National Media Museum - Kodak
Gallery Collection
Woman reading, about 1890. National
Media Museum - Kodak Gallery
Collection
Woman at a market stall, about 1890.
Collection of National Media Museum/
Kodak Museum