Kodak's $1 Brownie camera turned photography into a mass hobby

Until 1900, photography was a craft for the well-off: cameras were expensive, plates were heavy, and exposure and development demanded skill. Getting a picture taken cost time and money, and taking one yourself was out of reach for most people.

Kodak changed the economics in 1900 with the $1 Brownie camera. The camera was cheap enough for a family purchase, and Kodak separated taking from developing: amateurs pressed the button, loaded a roll of film, and sent the roll to Kodak — 'You press the button, we do the rest.' The money was made not on the camera but on film, processing and prints, again and again.

The result was a massive movement of amateur photography: the Brownie introduced the snapshot and the family photo album, and Kodak taught the masses to 'say cheese.' The camera helped Kodak dominate the photographic industry for the first half of the twentieth century.