An original 6 x 4 inch colour snapshot photograph dated 1985, printed on Kodak colour paper, showing a group of costumed band performers in red and white uniforms on a white terrace ramp at what appears to be a large theme park. One young woman stands in the foreground in a white pleated skirt, red and white top and white boots, with several other performers behind her at the railing, some apparently holding instruments. The terrace is edged with a decorative arched wrought-iron railing above a pale stone block wall, with tall flagpoles flying a blue and yellow heraldic banner and a red pennant against a bright blue sky with scattered cloud. Mature pines and flowering planters fill the background. The reverse carries the repeated Kodak backprint reading THIS PAPER MANUFACTURED BY KODAK / PAPIER FABRIQUÉ PAR KODAK, along with 85 handwritten in blue ink. Supplied as the single loose photograph shown.

Condition & size

Pre-owned in Good condition for its age. The image side is bright and clean with good colour and contrast, no creasing and no significant surface scratching; the corners and edges are sound. The reverse is the main flaw: it has been removed from an album or mount and retains numerous torn patches of tan backing paper adhered across the surface, concentrated to the left side, upper edge and centre, with further smaller fragments at the right and lower edges. These patches are fibrous and raised and are not removable without risking the print. Also to the reverse is 85 written in blue biro. None of this residue or ink shows through to the picture side. Supplied loose and unframed, exactly as photographed. Please review all of the photographs closely, as they show the actual item you will receive and form part of this description.

Approx. 15 x 10 cm (6 x 4 in); approx. 5 g.

Background

Kodak's bilingual English and French colour paper backprint was standard on consumer chromogenic prints through the late 1970s and 1980s, and the handwritten year on the reverse is typical of how processing labs and families dated holiday prints of the period. Snapshots of this kind, taken by visitors rather than by professionals, are collected as vernacular photography: unposed, unpublished images valued for their record of everyday life, costume and place. American theme park visits were a staple of 1980s family photography, and park and marching band enthusiasts actively seek out period amateur images because so few were ever formally published.

Who it's for

Collectors of vernacular and found photography, theme park and Disney parks history enthusiasts, marching band and majorette memorabilia collectors, researchers of 1980s American costume and youth culture, and collage, scrapbooking and mixed-media artists looking for genuine period source material.

Estimated Date

1985. Dated by the handwritten "85" in blue ink on the reverse, consistent with the Kodak bilingual colour paper backprint used through this period and with the costume, hairstyle and white boots visible in the image.

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