Editing George Eastman (section)

==Career==
{{See also|Kodak#History}}

=== Founding of Kodak ===
[[File:Kodak ad 1888.GIF|thumb|right|An advertisement from 1888 of the first [[Kodak]] camera]]
While working as a bank clerk in the 1870s, Eastman became interested in photography. After receiving lessons from George Monroe and [[George B. Selden|George Selden]], he developed a machine for coating [[dry plate]]s in 1879.<ref>Brayer, Elizabeth (1996). pp. 27–29</ref> In 1881, he founded the Eastman Dry Plate Company with [[Henry Strong (Kodak)|Henry Strong]] to sell plates, with Strong as company president and Eastman as treasurer, where he handled most executive functions.<ref>Brayer, Elizabeth (1996). p. 37</ref> Around the same time, he began experiments to create a flexible film roll that could replace plates altogether. In 1885, he received a patent for a film roll, and then focused on creating a camera to use the rolls.<ref>Brayer, Elizabeth (1996). pp. 43–44</ref> In 1888, he patented and released the [[Kodak]] camera ("Kodak" being a word Eastman created).<ref>Brayer, Elizabeth (1996). p. 63</ref> It was sold loaded with enough roll film for 100 exposures. When all the exposures had been made, the photographer mailed the camera back to the Eastman company in Rochester, along with $10. The company would process the film, make a print of each exposure, load another roll of film into the camera, and send the camera and the prints to the photographer.<ref name=":2">Collins, Douglas (1990). pp. 56–60</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Fred R. |title=You press the button...we do the rest |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1959/11/16/you-press-the-buttonwe-do-the-rest |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513093615/https://vault.si.com/vault/1959/11/16/you-press-the-buttonwe-do-the-rest |archive-date=May 13, 2020 |access-date=April 2, 2020 |website=Sports Illustrated Vault {{!}} SI.com |language=en-us}}</ref>

The separation of photo-taking from the difficult process of film development was novel and made photography more accessible to amateurs than ever before, and the camera was immediately popular with the public. By August 1888, Eastman was struggling to meet orders, and he and his employees soon had several other cameras in development.<ref>Brayer, Elizabeth (1996). p. 66</ref> The rapidly-growing Eastman Dry Plate Company was reorganized as the Eastman Company In 1889,<ref name="aipcinema.com2">{{Cite web |title=Kodak Film History {{!}} Chronology of Motion Picture Films – 1889 to 1939 |url=http://www.aipcinema.com/ficheiros/Conteudos/KODAK_FILM_HISTORY.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515033307/http://www.aipcinema.com/ficheiros/Conteudos/KODAK_FILM_HISTORY.pdf |archive-date=May 15, 2013 |access-date=December 7, 2018 |website=aipcinema.com}}</ref> and then incorporated as Eastman Kodak in 1892.<ref name="Brayer, Elizabeth 1996 pp. 89">Brayer, Elizabeth (1996). pp. 89–91</ref><ref name="Gale2">"George Eastman." ''Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History''. Edited by Thomas Carson and Mary Bonk. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 1999. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, January 26, 2018.</ref>

=== Growth of film industry===
[[File:George Eastman founder of Eastman Kodak Company.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait of Eastman by [[Paul Nadar]], 1890]]
Eastman recognized that most of his revenue would come from the sale of additional film rolls, rather than camera sales, and focused on film production. By providing quality and affordable film to every camera manufacturer, Kodak managed to turn competitors into ''de facto'' business partners.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Heineman |first=Ted |date=2009 |title=George Eastman |url=http://www.riversidecemeteryjournal.com/People/People/page70.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317202930/http://www.riversidecemeteryjournal.com/People/People/page70.html |archive-date=March 17, 2016 |access-date=March 23, 2018 |website=Riverside Cemetery Journal}}</ref> In 1889 he patented the processes for the first [[nitrocellulose]] film along with chemist Henry Reichenbach.<ref>Brayer, Elizabeth (1996). pp. 69–70</ref> A number of [[patent infringement]] lawsuits would preoccupy Eastman and his lawyers in subsequent years, including one from Reichenbach after he was fired in 1892.<ref name="Brayer, Elizabeth 1996 pp. 89"/> The largest lawsuit would come from rival film producer [[Ansco]]. Inventor [[Hannibal Goodwin]] had filed a patent for nitrocellulose film in 1887, prior to Eastman and Reichenbach's, but it was not granted until 1898.<ref>Brayer, Elizabeth (1996). pp. 55, 191–192</ref> Ansco purchased the patent in 1900 and sued Kodak for infringement. Kodak ultimately lost the suit, which lasted over a decade and cost the company $5 Million.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 27, 1914 |title=Eastman Co. Settles Case  |pages=1 |work=[[New York Times]] |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1914/03/27/100416785.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 |access-date=January 5, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=McKelvey |first=Blake |date=January 1959 |title=The Rochester Area in American History |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v21_1959/v21i1.pdf |journal=Rochester History |publisher=Rochester Public Library |volume=XXI |issue=1 |page=14}}</ref>

Eastman paid close attention to Kodak's advertisements. He coined the slogan, "[[You Press the Button, We Do the Rest|You press the button, we do the rest]]", which became ubiquitous in the general public.<ref>Brayer, Elizabeth (1996). p. 71</ref>
[[File:Eastman Kodak HQ 1900.jpg|thumb|right|The Kodak factory and main office in [[Rochester, New York|Rochester]], {{circa}} 1900–1910]]
As Kodak pursued a [[monopoly]] on film through patents and acquisitions, the company experienced rapid growth. By 1896, Kodak was the leading supplier of film stock internationally,<ref name="aipcinema.com2" /> and by 1915, the company was the largest employer in Rochester, with over 8,000 employees and annual earnings of $15.7 Million. In 1934, shortly after Eastman's death, Kodak employed 23,000.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Barnes |first=Joseph |date=April 1973 |title=The City's Golden Age |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v35_1973/v35i2.pdf |journal=Rochester History |publisher=Rochester Public Library |volume=XXXV |issue=2 |pages=5–6}}</ref> One of the largest markets for film became the emerging [[Film industry|motion picture industry]]. When [[Thomas Edison]] and other film producers formed the [[Motion Picture Patents Company]] in 1908, Eastman negotiated for Kodak to be sole supplier of film to the industry.<ref>Collins, Douglas (1990). pp. 139–143</ref> His monopolistic actions attracted the attention of the federal government, which began an [[United States antitrust law|anti-trust]] investigation into Kodak in 1911 for exclusive contracts, acquisitions of competitors, and price-fixing. This resulted in a lawsuit against Kodak in 1913 and a final judgement in 1921, ordering Kodak to stop fixing prices and sell many of its interests.<ref>Collins, Douglas (1990). pp. 148, 150, 158–159</ref>

Kodak's growth was sustained during the 20th century by new innovations in film and cameras, including the [[Kodak Brownie|Brownie]] camera, which was marketed to children.<ref>Brayer, Elizabeth (1996). pp. 204–206</ref> Eastman took interest in [[color photography]] in 1904,<ref>Brayer, Elizabeth (1996). p. 217</ref> and funded experiments in color film production for the next decade. The resulting product, created by John Capstaff, was a two-color process named Kodachrome.<ref>Brayer, Elizabeth (1996). pp. 223–224</ref> Later, in 1935, Kodak would release the more famous second [[Kodachrome]], the first marketed integral tripack film.<ref>Collins, Douglas (1990). pp. 213–214</ref> During [[World War I]], Eastman established a photographic school in Rochester to train pilots for [[aerial reconnaissance]].<ref>Collins, Douglas (1990). pp. 150–151</ref>

In an era of growing trade union activities, Eastman sought to counter the union movement by anticipating worker demands. To this end, he implemented a number of worker benefit programs, including a welfare fund to provide workmen's compensation in 1910 and a profit-sharing program for all employees in 1912.<ref name="Gale2" /><ref>Brayer, Elizabeth (1996). pp. 354–355</ref><ref>Collins, Douglas (1990). p. 191</ref>