Kodak Retires Kodachrome After 74 Years

DAVID GREENE, Host:

And our last word in business today is final frame.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "KODACHROME")

GREENE: After 74 years in production, Kodak is retiring one of its most famous products.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "KODACHROME")

PAUL SIMON: (Singing) Kodachrome, they give us those nice bright colors.

GREENE: Kodachrome was the world's first commercially successful color film, was used in both still cameras and on movie sets. And Kodachrome really captured some of the most iconic images in recent memory. A roll of eight millimeter Kodachrome was in Abraham Zapruder's camera when he recorded the assassination of President Kennedy. Photojournalist Steve McCurry also used this kind of film to bring out the startling green of an Afghan girl's eyes. And that image would make the cover of National Geographic. Kodachrome's sales peaked in the 1950s and 1960s but now make up less than one percent of Kodak's sales. So, sorry Paul Simon, looks like mama got her way.

SIMON: (Singing) So mama don't take my Kodachrome away.

GREENE: It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm David Greene.

RENEE MONTAGNE, Host:

And I'm Renee Montagne. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.