Say 'Cheese'

1942. Kodak developed the first, true-color print film called Kodacolor. Up to that point it was all black and white or sepia.

In the stacks of pictures older than 1947, I have found only the sepia or black and white prints. The earliest color pictures I have are those of me as a baby. On the back of one picture it states that my Uncle Jerry took the picture. I'm thrilled each time I look at the one, because this is the first color picture of my mother, a young woman in her 30's. A treasure for many reason.

Color film. Future generations will be able look at the pictures of their ancestors and take in the color of hair, eyes and skin. They can see exact colors of the places of the past. A new day and age came into being with color film.

Uncle Phil took pictures at our wedding. Some are in color and others in black and white. Each brings the day into focus in different ways. The sharp black and white bring faces from the past sharply into focus with no distractions. The color bring alive the colors of 1969. They are a gift even after all these years.

I love these early pictures of me in color. I believe I'm in my Aunt Esther's doll buggy that sat in the corner of her room when I was a child. I remember wanting the buggy for my own doll babies. Little did I know that I was the baby in that buggy. Pictures bring more to us than just images. They bring back memories of special times and the people shared them.

I have colorized pictures of Mom and Dad. The old process of manually adding color to pictures was an art. What fun to see the sepia pictures made truer to the coloring of the person. Mom with the rouge on her cheeks. Dad with his beautiful, blue eyes. The early colored pictures.

We had a big box camera and a Brownie camera at our house. Black and white pictures with scalloped edges came back from the drug store. We cherished every one of them. Today I cherish them even more.

Just remember that when someone says "Smile", give a smile that will last for generations.