I've gone through some old photos my parents have of their relatives. Photos from the 30's, 40's and 50's. Does anyone know what kind(s) of paper was used back then? It appears to be a single weight, glossy and has a jagged edge on the paper (the jaggies are patterned, not just ripped). Do you know if toning was generally used (popular?) during those times for family snapshots?

Thanks in advance!

-- Johnny Motown (johnny.motown@att.net), January 24, 2001

Answers

I think Velox was quite common then. No longer made as far as I know. The glossy finish came from ferrotyping, which you can still do with FB glossy papers and ferro plates, if you can find clean ones. The deckled edge can be done as well, if you can find a deckle (also spelled "deckel") paper cutter.

-- David Goldfarb (dgoldfarb@barnard.edu), January 24, 2001.

Yes, I remember Velox. It was my favorite paper for image tone. There were other single weight papers, too. Alas, it's gone with so many of the others. You could buy several papers with the deckle edge already on it. I did photo Christmas cards one year with this.

As late as the 60's we had enormous variety in image tone (blue- black, neutral black, warm black, brown-black), base tone (show white, neutral white, warm white, cream white), weights (light weight, medium weight, single weight, double weight), textures (glossy, matte, lustre, silk, tapestry, velvet), sizes (2-1/2 x 3- 1/2, 3-1/2 x 5, 4x5, 5 x 7, post card, Christmas card) etc. In the 70's they started to disappear. By the 80's they were mostly gone.

Porters Camera sells a scissor's (used to sell a trimmer) that gave the deckle edge. http://store.porters.com/

I've seen them at my local camera store, too.

Papers were often sepia-toned, and gold toned.

-- Charlie Strack (charlie_strack@sti.com), January 24, 2001.

Thanks for the answers! It is a shame that Velox isn't available anymore.

-- Johnny Motown (johnny.motown@att.net), January 25, 2001.

I miss some of the old papers like Kodak Medalist in the J (semigloss luster) and Y (silk) surfaces and Dupont Velour Black in Glossy. There are some good papers out today but nothing to compare with Velour Black or Medalist. Medalist was especially good for slightly hard negatives because its' grade 2 was closer to a 1.75, 3 to 2.75 etc.Velour Black on the other hand was stunning. I still have prints from those days and nothing compares.BTW Fiskars makes a deckle edge trimmer available at crefts & art supply stores.

-- Robert Orofino (rorofino@iopener.net), January 25, 2001.

AZO is still available. It is used by some of our best known Fine Arts photographers including that Dynamic Duo, Michael A. Smith and Paula Chamlee. Developed in Amidol it almost GLOWS.

-- Bill Mitchell (bmitch@home.com), January 28, 2001.

Kodak AZO is available through freestylecamera.com E mail for one of their catalogs. One problem is AZO is contact only it is far too slow for enlarging.

-- Frank Bowing (frabow@onslowonline.net), January 31, 2001.

B&H also carries Azo. Check both for the best price. Freestyle seems more committed to having it in stock, but B&H can get it in on pretty short notice if they're out of the size you need. I develop it in Agfa Neutol WA 1:11 usually and tone in Kodak Rapid Selenium Toner 1:15 for 3 minutes for nice deep blacks.

-- David Goldfarb (dgoldfarb@barnard.edu), February 01, 2001.