One of my recent antique store finds was a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye. I paid $25 for it. That’s probably more than it’s worth, but it was in excellent shape and was in the original box. Once I got it home, I disovered that it came with a bonus in the form of a roll of film still inside the camera.

I’ll admit that I’ve accidently exposed several rolls of film to light in the past, thereby ruining any hope of recovering images from them. This was done in my haste to pop open the back of a camera for a looksie. I’ve learned to slow down and make sure the camera is empty before opening it. And if it appears there might be film in it, only open it under complete darkness or get the film properly rolled up first.

The Brownie Hawkeye was manufactured between 1949 and 1961. It used 620 size film. The roll of film still in the camera was simply labeled “Panchromatic” and “Made in England.”

I know that Panchromatic film is black and white. And since it was found in a Brownie, I made an educated guess that it was slow film, probably around 100 ASA. My research on this roll of film indicated it was likely produced in the 50’s or 60’s.

I’ve learned to slow down and make sure the camera is empty before opening it.

I decided to attempt developing the film using Rodinal at a dilution of 1:100 and letting it stand in the developer for one hour with only minimial agitation. I’d had success using this technique in the past. Loading the film onto a developing reel was a chore. I wouldn’t describe the film as being fragile, but it was super thin. Think onion paper. And it had been wound up on its spool for so long that it was hesitant to give up that shape. Patience paid off and I was able to sucessfully get it loaded into a tank and develeoped.

The roll of film actually turned out and I could see visible images on the negatives, but the quality was poor, at best. I originally thought I had about eight usable frames but it turned out that I could only get meaningful scans from four (actually 3 1/2). What follows are those scans with minimal attempt to try and clean them up.

What do you see in the photos that could help date them? Buildings, cars and clothing could help. How old might the people in the photos be now (if they are still alive). Where were the photos taken?