Our grandson Edison visited recently, and one of the books he was reading described two characters on skateboards crashing into each other as a real “Kodak moment.” Edison looked up at Kathy and said “I don’t even know what that means!” Another idiom bites the dust!
The Grammarist describes a Kodak moment:
“A Kodak moment is a moment in time that is so precious because of its sentimental value or its beauty, one wishes to preserve it on film. For instance, a baby’s first steps may be considered a Kodak moment.”
And further:
“The expression Kodak moment came from a popular advertising campaign for the American Kodak cameras in the latter half of the twentieth century, produced by Eastman Kodak. Kodak cameras such as the Brownie and Instamatic cameras were reasonably priced and easy to use, so even the most inexperienced or busy people could operate them.”
Goes hand-in-hand with “Kodak Picture Spot” – a place where you were guaranteed a “good” picture if you stood there and snapped a photo. Back when Kodak was the Zenith (see what I did there?) of the photo marketing world.
We were more of an RCA family, but I got it!
I have some maps from our first visits to the Caribbean that have the “Kodak Picture Spots” marked. I seem to recall that some places even had metal plaques buried in sidewalks that told you where to stand. And it wasn’t that long ago!
Love that photo and it defines for me the “Kodak moment.”
I agree!
Haven’t heard that phrase in a long time. I remember the ads though.
I guess the nearest equivalent for today would be “One for the IG!” Not nearly as warm or heartfelt.
Yeah, now everyone has “Selfie Spots” but somehow it isn’t the same! 🙂