Hi folks
A few years ago I bought at auction a box of darkroom paraphenalia. It was perhaps the most unprepossessing lot. Most of the contents soon went to the rubbish tip, but at the bottom of the box I found a metal container labelled Kodak Sensitized Paper. The container was entirely sealed and required a key to open it in the same manner as old sardine tins. Inside the metal container was a regular (for Kodak at the time) cardboard box, and inside that was paper: 144 sheets of 11x14. The paper appeared to be in good order, but when I exposed and developed it no image appeared. I was momentarily nonplussed, as I expected the paper to have retained some activity, even if the resulting image was poor. Then it occurred to me that the paper might be insensitive to tungsten light, and sure enough a second or so’s exposure to sunlight produced a rich, neutral-toned image. I've since made prints with it (using a UV light source), which are fine, but the paper evidently lacks any baryta, so the highlights are somewhat dull.
The box is labelled "KIND 1019" (see attached images). The paper is evidently a chloride paper, and selenium toner produces a rich, red-brown image. Exposing it to daylight (without development) produces a carrot-like colour.
A contact with someone who used to work for Kodak suggested that the "KIND" label indicated an experimental emulsion, but could not elaborate further.
I'm curious as to the age of the paper and the purpose for which it may have been intended. As far as I can tell from the packaging, it pre-dates 1950, by which time Kodak had changed the style of its labelling. Similar boxes (empty) have been advertised on eBay, the most recent one indicating that the contents should be used before 1940. That it is insensitive to tungsten light suggests that it was not intended for enlarging.
If anyone can shed any light on it (so to speak), I'd much appreciate it.
Brian
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