The Archivists' Bulldog

Vol. 9, No. 25, The Newsletter of the Maryland State Archives, August 7, 1995

THE RAREST KODAK OF THEM ALL...?

By Jim Hefelfinger
George Eastman was very generous; he gave away 500,000 Kodaks on the fiftieth anniversary of his company. He also had a patriotic side. I am not referring to the many projects carried out by Kodak in the nation's defense efforts. No, the most patriotic piece of equipment built by the firm was the George Washington Kodak. If you have never heard of the George Washington Kodak you are in good company. There are only two known examples of the camera and both are on the shelves of the Kodak Patent Museum in Rochester. If no others are found, this would make the camera the rarest Kodak of them all. The camera is a cardboard box, of the same construction as the Anniversary Kodak. The George Washington Kodak is blue with a silver seal showing the bust of George Washington. Also, the camera has a metal plate covering the front panel, with a silver star and a red, white and blue stripe enameled on the plate. The camera came complete with a matching box identifying it as a Kodak product commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of George Washington (1732-1932). An interesting fact about this camera is that no one at Kodak seems to remember it. No work order can be found, and it was never listed in the catalogs. The most likely explanation is that the camera was made as part of the nation-wide Washington Bicentennial celebration. What became of them, if indeed more than two were made, is not known. We don't know that the camera was produced in quantity, but we don't know that it wasn't either. So check out your attic and your favorite antique shops. And just to keep you interested and looking, there was, in fact, a well organized George Washington Bicentennial celebration committee, and guess who was a member of the honorary board of directors? None other than red, white, and blue George Eastman. Good hunting!

SPORTS NEWS: ARCHIVES OUT OF HARMS' WAY

by Arian Ravanbakhsh
On Wednesday, July 26 the Archives' softball team traveled to Freetown Park to face the team from Harms in the pivotal final game of the league regular season. Both teams entered the contest with identical records, tied for sixth place in the standings. Adding importance to this struggle was the fact that the first six teams in the league were entitled to first round byes in the upcoming playoffs. In the first inning, the Archives' offense, which was absent in the previous game at Crownsville, returned from its vacation. A leadoff single by Chuck "Mr. Style" Bodziak followed with a double by Tim "Trouble" Siekierka propelled the Archives to the lead. Before the inning was over, Steve "Say Hey" Bennett had smashed a RBI double and "Wild" Bill Bodziak had driven in a run with a single of his own. Though the Archives' lead was trimmed to 3-2 by Harms in the bottom of the first, one need not have worried because that most notorious of weapons, the "Bottom-of-the-Order gang" came through in the second. Three consecutive singles by Dana "Demon" Grogan, Jason "Argonaut" Bennett, and Chuck "Mr. Style" drove in one run. When Tim "Trouble" Siekierka singled, it loaded the bases for perennial power hitter, Bill "The Thrill" Bodziak. Though "The Thrill" did not hit a grand slam, he did hit the ball deep enough for a very rare two RBI sacrifice fly. Gus "Anvil" Andujar and Rob "Razor" Gentry got the offense started in the third inning with base hits. A deep fly ball from the menacing bat of Mariana "The Menace" Toves and a single from Arian "Barbarian" Ravanbakhsh drove in the two runs. After three innings, the Archives was leading 8-5 and seemingly well in control. Chuck "Mr. Style" got the offense in the next inning with a double, and scored when Bill "The Thrill" forced the opposition shortstop into throwing the ball into the trees behind first base. "Thrill" then scored after yet another double from "Say Hey" Bennett. In the fifth, hits from "Wild" Bill and "Razor" Gentry set the stage for "Menace" Toves' second RBI of the game. While the Archives' bats were pounding out runs, the defense was airtight, keeping Harms from scoring. Chuck "Mr. Style" lead off the sixth inning with a stylistic sharply hit ball into centerfield that the Harms fielder dropped. When "Mr. Style" pulled into third base, he demanded a triple, but the Committee on Scorecard Adjudication could only award an error. Tim "Trouble" followed with a devious ground ball that forced Harms into yet another fielding miscue. Bill "The Thrill" followed with a long line drive between the outfielders for his third home run of the season, pushing the Archives lead to 15-5. At this point, the cheering section of Shirley "Wave" Bodziak, Betsy "Nerves of" Steele and Frank "Terror" Toves began to feel confident that the Archives would prevail. However, the Harms' hitters came alive and scored five runs in the seventh, cutting the lead in half. Bill "The Thrill" produced a bases loaded double scoring three runs in the eighth that pushed the Archives further ahead, only to watch as Harms scored another five runs in the eighth, making the score 18-15 heading into the final inning. The Archives' hitters only managed one hit in the top of the ninth, clearly showing the effects of the oppressive heat and fatigue from scoring runs in nearly every inning of the game. "Wild" Bill's savage array of pitching then retired Harms in the ninth without surrendering a run and the Archives escaped with a hard-fought, but well-deserved victory. Game Honors go to Chuck "Mr. Style" Bodziak who went 4 for 5 and scored 5 runs and his brother, Bill "The Thrill" who drove in 7 runs (one shy of the team record). With this triumph, the Archives concludes this campaign with a 4-5 record, good for fifth place in the league standings. Next up is the playoff round as the Archivists play McCrone on August 9 at Annapolis Junior High. Bring family and friends because the playoffs always seem to bring out the most exciting softball of the season!


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