" From Daguerre to Digital. The Life Cycle of Silver Halide Phototgraphy 1839 to 2005" by W. J. Streeter

I received a copy of this very detailed and informative book by Bill Streeter who spent last 4 years writing this outstanding obituary to silver halide photography's rise and fall in almost 200 years. I lived only a part of the years but did witness development of many new products described in this book and lived to see the end of the silver halide photograhy era. Most of the books on the history of silver halide photography are focuesed on the technology side of the story but this book also includes business end; the success and failure of new products, photographic company performance with considerable time stamps, mergers and aquisitions and so on. If you lived through 20th century just as I did, I am sure you will find many interesting facts, dates, situations to bring back your memories in those days. I highly recommend getting a copy from Amazon.com.

In 1987 Konica acquired Powers Chemco’s U.S. operations but the Powers family retained ownership of Chemco Europe. In 1993 Polychrome acquired Chemco Europe out of bankruptcy. In that period I met Bill and many of his staff who continued to work in Kodak Polychrome Graphics. Bill left in 1995 to head Western Lithotech, Mitsubishi Chemical’s U.S. printing plate operations. The Kodak Polychrome Graphics offices and film coating facilities in the Netherlands were shut down in 1999

Two "Polychromers" Reunite 50 Years Later.... a letter from Don Leo

In my first job in Corporate America I started as a Lab Technician working for Ken-Ici Shimazu, Director of R&D, Polychrome Corp, Yonkers NY in the Special Products Laboratory. During that two year period I learned how to formulate new products, scale them up in the pilot plant and conduct plant trials at co-manufacturers. The valuable experience I gained in those two years provided me with the skills and knowledge to further advance my career as a Food Chemist at General Foods and PepsiCo over the next ten years. I leveraged that technical expertise to advance my career for next thirty years in Sales and Marketing at Givaudan Flavors and Fragrances. In addition to providing the valuable skills I needed to succeed in business my colleagues at Polychrome became my friends , mentors and team mates. The collegial atmosphere and the diverse backgrounds of my colleagues influenced me in positive ways that stayed with me my entire career. Ken was a great boss and his mentorship means so much to me to this very day. Ken and I had a fantastic lunch ( sushi of course) and talked at length and shared memories about the "good old days" as well as both of our families. Ken invited me into his home where we sipped green tea and sampled Japanese sweets and treats. It was a wonderful reunion in every aspect. Fifty years is a long time for sure but being with Ken that day felt like it was yesterday. I am so thankful for my two years at Polychrome. It laid the foundation for a long happy career in chemistry and business.... Donald Leo Laboratory Technician Special Projects Lab Polychrome Corp Photo: Ken and Don conducting a Chrome Guide plant trial in Millerton NY Spring 1974

Berwick photos from Mr. Kawaguchi

Mr Takeshi Kawaguchi, a DIC engineer who were part of the engineer group who stationed in US had some photo collection from his visit to Berwick facility on July 21, 1989.

1978 Polychrome International Today Newsletter

Doug Chu, Simon's son was helping his dad to "declutter" his papers and found this a 1978 Polychrome Int. Today Newsletter. It has a lot of interesting cobtents and brings back memories. It is in a large format and may not be suitable for reading on phone but hope many readers have an access to a computer with a large screen to go through all the contents and pictures. By the way Simon is going to be 92 this coming Feb. and doing great according to Doug. Thanks Doug for your contribution.

100 years of service to Polychrome

Simon Chu,JenChi Huang, JB Huang and I met again for a Japanese lunch at Sazan restaurant in Ardsley NY, our usual hideout. These four represents approximately 100 years of combined service to Polychrome Corporation. As usual it was good to seeing each other and catching up on the recent news such as of grandchildren ( and great grand children in case of Simon), health reports such as aches and pains and a bit of Polychrome related news such as three production plants, in Columbus, Katzenstein and Gunma still operating while Agfa and Fuji cut back their non-domestic production sites.

Polyline May 1973

Polyline May 1973 issue was found inside a book totally unrelated Polychrome. So it is now uploaded for your review. I am hopeful that in case you find something interesting for this archive you will consider sending me the content rather than throwing it away as old junk!

DIC engineer Mr. Kawaguchi accompanied Mr. Nonaka (then in charge of graphic arts div. at DIC), Dr. Oe (R&D director then, later became President of DIC) to tour US,German and English plants. There they met members of Polychrome, Bittner, Kaps, Sens and Hitomi of DIC who was then stationed in Katzenstein. The photo is the Katzenstein brochure handed out during their visit.