OK, this is an incredible example of the power of the message (the song, which was a popular on of the era) reflecting well on the product---and vice versa. Anyone know if this is the first commercial to use a pop song? Definitely has emotional appeal and matches the brand promise. Bring back the 60's era of advertising!
@amateurphilosopher, tell that to the tens of thousands of former Kodak employees in and around Rochester, NY who are now having to find other ways to scrape a living: more casualties of the capitalist system, whose only motivation is maximizing profits, with no regard whatsoever for human values.
@Firannion: You said it! Also, tell that to the people concerned for the environment in and around Rochester, who've been after Kodak to clean up their act for years.
I remember this Kodak commercial well - this and the one with 'They Can't Take That Away from Me' were used all the time on the Walt Disney program. I'm glad that someone preserved a copy of it. Credit ought to be given to Malvina Reynolds, though, for authorship of the song.
Definitely a beautiful song and the version on the ad was definitely not Harry Belafonte but he did sing a Jamaican song that has the same or similar phrase.
Rise above all the hoopla over capitalism, etc. Nostalgia aside, even if they didn't mean it, Kodak gave a whole generation a message that shouldn't be forgotten - Life is short; treasure each and every moment with the ones we love because they will never come again and time goes by so fast. Thank you for posting this video.
Good to hear this lovely young woman had a lovely future. I can't say the same for Kodak, which grossly mismanaged its chance to dominate the digital camera market after it invented the first one around 1975. Of course, the yellow box film it was riding on is as gone as phonographs and 8 tracks. All the Kodak top execs of the past 30 years should be lined up and shot, and not with cameras. Their stupidity has cost the nation thousands of jobs.
@mobydoug: Not just the U.S., but also Canada (hundreds of workers in Toronto alone), the UK (where the older workers might lose their pensions), and a lot of other places around the world. As for your comment about digital camera development by Kodak; that's not all the fault of the execs alone, the photography community should also share the blame for the nonsense they spew about digital being 'cold' compared to film being 'warm'-Kodak wouldn't make any digital cameras because of that.
It always surprises me when I see this commercial that there are no pictures of this girl in a wedding dress...they capture every moment of her life on film, except her wedding day?
Sonny and Cher recorded a version of this on one of their LP's and in the label on the record next to the title of this song, Eastman Kodak is noted as the owner of the copyright. It is possible that Kodak commissioned the song themselves. Kodak did commission a later song, 'For The Times Of Your Life' that was used in their commercials but not nearly as moving as this.
This was my time. I would sit on my father's lap while this commercial played. I now have my own grown sons & daughters with their own children who are growing. My hear aches, but it's a good ache. I miss my father and watch my mother aging (age 91), but I am happy for my children who have grown to be kind, compassionate, bright and witty adults who are lovingly raising another generation of blessed children. And I get to sing this. Ain't life grand?
According to the US Copyright office, Turn Around was written by Harry Belafonte and Malvina Reynolds (words and music) with more music by Alan Greene. Copyright 1958, renewed 1986.
if you dredge youtube, you can find Harry Belafonte singing this. (no clue why I thought he wrote it. I'm guessing it's because I've misremember your comment.
Kodak , here, wants to be Hallmark.
I will have to watch this again as I don't think I was struck by the Mad Men thing when I last saw this - and I recently rewatched season 1 (twice)
I've always remembered this song from my earliest childhood and wondered where it came from. Thank you! What a sweet, touching ad -- even the sweet voice of the lady announcer at the end.
I was in New York for an advertising conference in the 1960's. A Kodak VP played this commercial on the big screen weeks before it went on the air. It really moved me and when the lights came back on, I looked around and saw about 200 advertising executives all wiping tears from their eyes. It is just as good today as it was back then. Thanks for making it available. geraldcraw@gmail.com
Humans grow up too fast, especially during the early years. But we can blame that on the position of the Earth in relation to Sol (our Sun). Other star systems like Arcturus or Sirius kids take much longer to grow, and that's a good thing. Perhaps my next lifetime I will incarnate there instead.
An advertising masterpiece. The product isn't even mentioned until the end of the song. This is the rare case of an ad so good it succeeds its own product.
timeless as my mom and I offten talked of this and we used Kodak film.She,s passed on years ago.Every once in awhile I do things we used to do togeather.
Yeah, you're right. It's a weeper. I had to get the Kleenex watching this one. But Kodak always had a knack producing commericals with heart and sentimentality. Thank you for posting.
She seems to go straight from childhood to pregancy and marriage. Turn around, turn around, and you're depressed and trapped and your hubby's banging his secretary. And no, that is definitely NOT Harry Belfonte singing.
@c64c64c64 And what is wrong with selling a camera? Kodak's development and marketing of these low-cost, simple-to-use cameras enabled countless millions of people to preserve precious memories like the ones depicted in this commercial.
I dislike it, but if not liking it means I have to go to china or north korea, then actually i love it. woo! great idea! i am liking this idea!! whoop!! ahh how great to live in a country were freedom is measured by the lack of freedom in other countries :)
@c64c64c64 This commercial is an excellent example of why capitalism is such a vastly superior economic system - Kodak wins by profitably selling cameras, which allows them to gainfully employ thousands of people, the songwriter wins by making money from the royalties, the singer wins by being paid, the ad agency wins by making money for their employees, the TV stations win by making money, and the viewers win by enjoying a beautiful work of art for free. Everybody wins, nobody loses!
@amateurphilosopher Kodak developed the first digital camera around 1975. Its execs were too stupid to realize what they had and basically stuck with the film franchise (they had 80% of the market) for decades. By the time the stooges woke up, Kodak was ruined........out of the film AND camera markets, basically. The current CEO is trying to put the company's remaining cash (from old patent royalties) into the super tough laser printer market. Good luck on that!
@mobydoug Sadly, this kind of mismanagement is all too common - even worse was what Xerox did back around 1969. Having developed a personal computer with a windows-type operating system, they decided it was too expensive to manufacture. Instead, they simply showed it off to anyone who was interested. One of those who was interested was Steve Jobs.
@jagman31: In case you missed the news for the past two years, we've essentially sold our country to China, who is thriving economically while our perverted version of capitalism is in its death throes.
@agingstoner: From what I've heard, China might be facing some upheavals in it's future, so I wouldn't be banking on the current situation lasting very long...
My son asked me to sing this at his wedding reception during our mother/son dance. It was a surprise to me-he just handed me the microphone-and asked me to sing it. Needless to say, it was quite a moment.
While it may well be Ed Ames (I've also heard a clip ascribed to Perry Como) I had looked it up a while back (I sing it to my duck - I'm always asking where she is going) and found that Belafonte wrote it but it's extremely rare to find a copy of him actually singing it. I'm fairly sure that's what I read. Look up the song on wikipedia.
@pamelajaye The first time I heard this song it was by Harry Belafonte, I didn't remember this commercian but it is wonderful. I started my daughter's photo album in 1962 and used this song as I added to the album over the years.
I've been waiting over 45 years to see this commercial again. It was always my inspiration for the videos I made and put here on youtube. I now have another one to make because my #2 daughter now 30yo even looks like the girl in the commercial. Thankyou sooo much for posting this!!!
I really do like the voice, but having said this I am a long standing fan of
Ed Ames, and I am pretty sure that he is not the singer. There were quite a number of lyric baritones around at the time - I am not sure, but this could be Vaughn Monroe
This song is sooo true. My kids grew up before I knew it. To all parents of young children, please cherish this time and the time you have with them right now and love them bigtime. It will pass so quickly.
i remember the commercial and i used to sing the song to my daughter when she was only a year old. her little face would pucker and she would cry everytime i sang it to her. i so wish i could savor those days again
This commercial struck a chord with me, even though I must have been 10 or 11 the first time I saw it. I loved the song and the sentiment. When my own daughter was born, I used to sing it to her. Recently I went looking for it online, and I found a version by Perry Como, and another by a woman whose name I sadly can't remember right now. Her version contained the verse about the little boy.
I saw this commercial when I was 5-years-old and I never forgot it. It was so strange because it made me sad at the time because I "knew" one day I would have little girls that would grow up like this. I did have 2 and they both have graduated from college and moved far away, the last one just a couple of weeks ago, and I am very very sad- I cried a lot. It's funny how we can "know" something at a very young age.
My graduation speaker's speech was about this. He had my entire graduating class stand up and turn in a circle because he says that he doesn't remember anything his speaker said. It worked though; my entire class remembers standing up and turning around, and pretty much nothing else. I've never actually heard the song before though. It's sad! :(
Waldo, thank you for mentioning a "young man" version because I have this song by some group on a CD and it only has the little girl version and I knew I had heard a little boy verse too
This theme was employed for not one, but a series of Kodak commercials, several of them shortened to 1-minute formats, including "young man" versions, the tempo speeded up, and different singers used. I saw them as a kid; they were haunting and powerful then and powerful now. I never forgot them.
The singer isn't Ed Ames, though he sounds similar. More likely a studio contract singer. The voice has an "older" timbre than Ames would've been at the time.
This is such a beautiful advertisement. It breaks my heart and, while I'm only 19, it makes me long for all the years gone by. I'm a very nostalgic person as it is, but this is the kind of thing that really makes me realize that about myself. We need more of this on TV today.
I'd heard of this famous ad but never seen it before - thanks!
According to "Mighty Minutes" by Jim Hall (Harmony Books, 1984 - ISBN 0-517-55318-X), the 2-minute ad was introduced by Ed Sullivan on his April 16, 1961 show. Timeless enough to use unchanged 4-5 years later (Instamatic 104 -1965).
Hall describes the singer only as a "gentle-voiced male" - I'm guessing a studio voice hired by JWT. It would have been unusual to use a popular recording behind a TV ad in those days.
Late Nov. of 1963, this poignant song became a hit for Dick & DeeDee. It was so ironic that this hit by them entered the top-100 charts the same time Pres. JFK was shot... Kodak used Dick & DeeDee for some of these commercials, also. Len-Jee
I recall seeing this advert for the first time on The Perry Como Show. Because it was such a moving piece of documentation and music, he introduced it, saying it was created from photos taken by a doctor/dentist (?) of his own daughter and sent to Kodak, who then matched up the song or had it written for the ad. That's as close as I can remember it.
According to the CLIO archives for 1962 the "voice" for the Kodak Turn Around commercial is Paul Arnold, not Ed Ames. Harry Belafonte and Malvina Reynolds are shown as the songwriters, so it appears to refer to the same commercial.
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italobambino43: Why did you and the other liberals even come to this video? You obviously don't like the video, because it expresses a kinder, simpler time. You and the other liberal haters spout off about how "evil" those days were compared to today. You don't see how things are much worse today, thanks to folks like you. Liberal views have been destroying this country for a long time, leading to our first socialist president, a corrupt government, and a culture that praises garbage.
My MaMa sang this to me when I was born, she still does every time I ask her to. I'm 18 years old now and I hope to sing it to my daughter when I have one. :)
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To those who feel that "those days" were worse than today because of "segregation, nuclear arms, cuban missile crisis, etc.," remember this: those were all problems created by LIBERALS. Today, we have self-segregation by blacks themselves, nuclear insanity by North Korea due to inept "diplomacy" by the Carter and other democrat administrations, and Cuba was something that JFK managed to screw up when he wasn't busy screwing his mistresses in the White House during our glorious "Camelot" days.
Well, others like me who had the pleasure of knowing there Grandparents, and parents who taught them to be productive and responsable adults, who don't reply to others with ignorance and hostility !
There was another one done later in color, too, which I believe had a different male singing it. Harry Belafonte was one of the original cowriters of this song.
You just don't see corporatie TV demanding this type of quality commercials any more, let alone the manufacturers demanding quality programming. Everything is about the mighty dollar and the bottom line. Those of us who remember this commercial remember a gentler time.
I recall this commercial, and as you said, I believe that there was another version done later in color. I recall the catch phrase at the end of the commercial as being "For the times of your life" Would like to find it, I've always told people it was one of the better commercials I've ever heard...
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Oh yeah, those gentler Nuclear Arms, Cuban Crisis and Segregation days. You were probably in your place at home while your old man worked because women were not accepted in the workplace. Do you folks who say stuff like 'the good old days' even know what planet you were on? Because, you sure screwed it up! Peace!
He sounds a lot like Ed Ames but Ed never sang this song as far as I'm aware of. The accent is different and the style is different. I've listend to almost every song he has and I don't believe this is Ed. You could try looking it up, though. This man has a wonderful voice, very similar to Ed's, but his vibrato is slower and his voice sounds slightly hallow/deep. LOvely song, though! Thanks for sharing!
This was during a time when commercials were not obnoxious and disgusting like today (Viagra, endless toilet bowl photos, loud annoying music, etc.). This commercial makes me yearn for that time again.
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Great commercial yes, but if you yearn for the old days you should consider: Polio! Hey, it's the iron lung ward! Segregation! Separate water fountains! Javelin Steering collums: Who needs seat belts! Etc...
@surfrider321 Thing was they were still made for the explicit purpose of taking your money. I'd personally rather they were obnoxious, since the goal is obnoxious.
I haven't seen this great commercial since I was a kid. Now that I'm a father, it makes me a little misty. Beautifully conceived and sung, though it doesn't sound like Harry Belafonte to me.
On the Disneys The Wonderful World of Color, almost every time the show had a documentary subject matter they would show this add. This was before Walt died and they made it Wonderful World of Disney.
The Kodak Carousel slide projector was incorporated into an episode of "Mad Men" (Don Draper develops the family oriented ad campaign for the device) . These cheap,1960's Kodak cameras wasted a lot of film because when you got your pictures back from the drugstore, half of them looked pretty bad. lol. Unfortunately few people could afford Pentax or Nikon SLR cameras in those days. If you wanted your pictures instantly, you could buy a real status symbol--a Polaroid camera!
This was a wonderful commercial, made all the more melancholy in today's light given the fate of that great company. I grew up in Rochester, NY, when Kodak was referred to as "The Big Yellow Papa"; so many people were employed by them. Went from 60,000 as I was in high school to the dismal count today. My father, God bless him, worked 38 years there, providing his family with the best, cherished moments of our own. I owe a lot of gratitude to this American institution. Godspeed it survives.
The 1989 commercial with Michael Bolton singing "Daddy's Little Girl" choked me up even more..and I was an 18-yr-old boy at the time; its far and away the best Eastman Kodak commercial ever. Alas! I can find it nowhere :\
I can't think of any commercial I've seen that had/has the impact of this one. Simple yet eloquent, happy and sad. Done with style and taste..qualities sadly lacking in most of the ads one sees on tv nowadays (talk about overkill and hype)! Funny, but I used to enjoy watching the ads back in the 60's. Now I mute my remote when they appear. Thanks for posting this memorable ad from "days gone by".
Anyone remember another TV commercial from the late 50's or early 60's where a woman sings this song? I think maybe it was a life insurance commercial. I was just a very young kid at the time, but this version of the song has stayed in my mind ever since.
I am so grateful you found this. I cried as a kid and this touches that same place. It's nice to find pockets of innocence under this blanket of a cynical world. THANKS!
Amazing to think this still exists. I remember this as a kid and often thought of it over the years as one of the more memorable commercials ever. Didn't think I'd ever see it again. Thanks for posting this!
My husband danced with our daughter at her wedding to Harry Belafonte's version. ALL the women and some of the men (including my husband) were crying while they danced; he was so saddened by this he left our daughter on the dance floor after the song finished, luckily our new son-in-law was standing right there (crying) to wrap her in his arms and that was 7 years ago and I still cry every time I hear this song.
WoW I can't believe I cried. My 5 year old said that baby is naked! The innocence of those times. You would never see a naked toddler on TV now...thanks for posting Malvina is one of the greatest song writers along with Woody Gutherie
Does anybody know if there was another version to this ad? My parents swear that as children they were mesmerized by a similar Kodak commercial, only the song was sung by a woman. The pictures were somewhat different too.
Modern Scarlett, your parents are correct. I well remember the Kodak commercial. It was sung by a woman and it was a much shorter version. This full version makes me weep. Like your parents, the song fascinated me.
I love this commercial and I wish they still made commercials like these. I wish I could find that other version though. I know my parents would like to see it again.
This one hit like a shot back in the mid-60s sometime ('64 - '67?). For obvious reasons. I strongly disbelieve that it's the voice of Belafonte, though. Possibly it's an Ames Brother, to mention the other common guess by commenters, but it's surely not Ed.
OK, this is an incredible example of the power of the message (the song, which was a popular on of the era) reflecting well on the product---and vice versa. Anyone know if this is the first commercial to use a pop song? Definitely has emotional appeal and matches the brand promise. Bring back the 60's era of advertising!
sardonic12 1 week ago
@amateurphilosopher, tell that to the tens of thousands of former Kodak employees in and around Rochester, NY who are now having to find other ways to scrape a living: more casualties of the capitalist system, whose only motivation is maximizing profits, with no regard whatsoever for human values.
Firannion 1 week ago
@Firannion: You said it! Also, tell that to the people concerned for the environment in and around Rochester, who've been after Kodak to clean up their act for years.
Neville6000 1 week ago
I remember this Kodak commercial well - this and the one with 'They Can't Take That Away from Me' were used all the time on the Walt Disney program. I'm glad that someone preserved a copy of it. Credit ought to be given to Malvina Reynolds, though, for authorship of the song.
Firannion 3 weeks ago
Definitely a beautiful song and the version on the ad was definitely not Harry Belafonte but he did sing a Jamaican song that has the same or similar phrase.
LyndelJean 1 month ago
The Kingston Trio also has a nice version of this song.
froehlegmail 1 month ago
Rise above all the hoopla over capitalism, etc. Nostalgia aside, even if they didn't mean it, Kodak gave a whole generation a message that shouldn't be forgotten - Life is short; treasure each and every moment with the ones we love because they will never come again and time goes by so fast. Thank you for posting this video.
fldhckymom 2 months ago 3
Good to hear this lovely young woman had a lovely future. I can't say the same for Kodak, which grossly mismanaged its chance to dominate the digital camera market after it invented the first one around 1975. Of course, the yellow box film it was riding on is as gone as phonographs and 8 tracks. All the Kodak top execs of the past 30 years should be lined up and shot, and not with cameras. Their stupidity has cost the nation thousands of jobs.
mobydoug 3 months ago
@mobydoug: Not just the U.S., but also Canada (hundreds of workers in Toronto alone), the UK (where the older workers might lose their pensions), and a lot of other places around the world. As for your comment about digital camera development by Kodak; that's not all the fault of the execs alone, the photography community should also share the blame for the nonsense they spew about digital being 'cold' compared to film being 'warm'-Kodak wouldn't make any digital cameras because of that.
Neville6000 1 week ago
ok she married and they forgot the gown unusual for us girls not to photograph that.But perhapes she baby sat then collage later marry her fella.
7466309change 3 months ago
Yes, it does have the same sentiment as "Sunrise, Sunset" and it was likewise sung at hundreds of weddings in the 60s-70s-80s.
keyplayer123 4 months ago
It always surprises me when I see this commercial that there are no pictures of this girl in a wedding dress...they capture every moment of her life on film, except her wedding day?
TypesALot 4 months ago
@TypesALot cause she whent to collage instead of marriage.
7466309change 3 months ago
@7466309change - Yeah, but they show her holding a baby, which I assume is hers.
TypesALot 3 months ago
@TypesALot maybe she baby sat for sisters then got smart.
7466309change 3 months ago
@7466309change - LOL!! Good point!
TypesALot 3 months ago
Sonny and Cher recorded a version of this on one of their LP's and in the label on the record next to the title of this song, Eastman Kodak is noted as the owner of the copyright. It is possible that Kodak commissioned the song themselves. Kodak did commission a later song, 'For The Times Of Your Life' that was used in their commercials but not nearly as moving as this.
Tom43Cunningham 4 months ago
This was my time. I would sit on my father's lap while this commercial played. I now have my own grown sons & daughters with their own children who are growing. My hear aches, but it's a good ache. I miss my father and watch my mother aging (age 91), but I am happy for my children who have grown to be kind, compassionate, bright and witty adults who are lovingly raising another generation of blessed children. And I get to sing this. Ain't life grand?
deborah592 5 months ago 2
3 ppl have no heart :'}
blondago56 5 months ago
According to the US Copyright office, Turn Around was written by Harry Belafonte and Malvina Reynolds (words and music) with more music by Alan Greene. Copyright 1958, renewed 1986.
artk2002 5 months ago
if you dredge youtube, you can find Harry Belafonte singing this. (no clue why I thought he wrote it. I'm guessing it's because I've misremember your comment.
Kodak , here, wants to be Hallmark.
I will have to watch this again as I don't think I was struck by the Mad Men thing when I last saw this - and I recently rewatched season 1 (twice)
pamelajaye 5 months ago
I wish I grew up back then....
Robinize 5 months ago
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jeepsdude 5 months ago
I've always remembered this song from my earliest childhood and wondered where it came from. Thank you! What a sweet, touching ad -- even the sweet voice of the lady announcer at the end.
louisa1832 5 months ago
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I was in New York for an advertising conference in the 1960's. A Kodak VP played this commercial on the big screen weeks before it went on the air. It really moved me and when the lights came back on, I looked around and saw about 200 advertising executives all wiping tears from their eyes. It is just as good today as it was back then. Thanks for making it available. geraldcraw@gmail.com
geraldcraw 7 months ago
im learning 2 play this on my autoharp im teenager and i love it
bandued 7 months ago
This is my best memories from my best picture company.Thank you for all those memmories.
7466309change 7 months ago
Humans grow up too fast, especially during the early years. But we can blame that on the position of the Earth in relation to Sol (our Sun). Other star systems like Arcturus or Sirius kids take much longer to grow, and that's a good thing. Perhaps my next lifetime I will incarnate there instead.
jaworskij 8 months ago
This song still makes me cry. Thanks to you for posting this.
disabledAmerican 8 months ago
when so may here talked about this being so sad, I thought the last pic was going to be of a tombstone or something!
younghoss 8 months ago
An advertising masterpiece. The product isn't even mentioned until the end of the song. This is the rare case of an ad so good it succeeds its own product.
problem49 9 months ago
timeless as my mom and I offten talked of this and we used Kodak film.She,s passed on years ago.Every once in awhile I do things we used to do togeather.
7466309change 9 months ago
Yeah, you're right. It's a weeper. I had to get the Kleenex watching this one. But Kodak always had a knack producing commericals with heart and sentimentality. Thank you for posting.
reneecalling 9 months ago
this is actually effective
TheNineinchsnails 9 months ago
wow, similar to that in Mad Men!!
jamesqi1987 10 months ago
oh wow, I HAD that exact camara.....just an excellent commercial. wish they had that much class now.
phineas117 10 months ago
The sweetest most heartwarming commercial there has ever been. I wish I could hold my Dad again.
violet2048 10 months ago
She seems to go straight from childhood to pregancy and marriage. Turn around, turn around, and you're depressed and trapped and your hubby's banging his secretary. And no, that is definitely NOT Harry Belfonte singing.
mobydoug 10 months ago
@mobydoug She had a very happy life - a loving husband and children. And she is still beautiful.
Sojournerblue 3 months ago
All parents get misty-eyed at this.
CortxVortx 11 months ago
@CortxVortx - So do their children! This one makes me miss that special relationship with them so much.
TypesALot 4 months ago
Who's singing?
rockerphelps 1 year ago
@rockerphelps Harry Belafonte
cookieicxc 11 months ago
Great commercial, lovely song. This song makes me forgive Reynolds for writing that smug, self-righteous piece of crap "Little Boxes".
rockerphelps 1 year ago
anyone know who sings this? i want to dance to it with my father at my wedding but i can't seem to find a version that would work...
VPbritnE 1 year ago
@VPbritnE Good luck to you. I defy your dad to keep from bawling all over your wedding dress if you insist on dancing with him during this song.
problem49 1 year ago
@VPbritnE Try Kenny Loggins cover
BridgetVela 10 months ago
Absolutely heart-wrenching. It succeeds by selling emotions, not film.
problem49 1 year ago
This is the song that first cemented me to folk music forever. Thanks for sharing!
Scout4Me1 1 year ago
beautiful
itsmezoe1 1 year ago
come before winter...please, come before winter
cappystrano1 1 year ago
This song was written by Malvena Reynolds
Markaria 1 year ago
This was a time of goodness, even though things lurked about in the background.
Everything had not "come out" truly....an era gone by. just simple and as surfrider said: "Not obnoxious"
WidowsSon63 1 year ago
I recommend a version of this song by Rosemary Clooney and Keith Carradine.
SSArcher11 1 year ago
horrible..
love the song. but disapointed that such a heartfelt song was used to sell a camera
c64c64c64 1 year ago
@c64c64c64 And what is wrong with selling a camera? Kodak's development and marketing of these low-cost, simple-to-use cameras enabled countless millions of people to preserve precious memories like the ones depicted in this commercial.
amateurphilosopher 1 year ago
@amateurphilosopher
using the song to get cash for a camera by manipulating peoples thoughts, thats whats wrong.
c64c64c64 1 year ago
@c64c64c64 It's not wrong. It's brillian capitalism! This is what makes money for the free world. If you don't like it, move to China or North Korea!
jagman31 1 year ago
@jagman31
I dislike it, but if not liking it means I have to go to china or north korea, then actually i love it. woo! great idea! i am liking this idea!! whoop!! ahh how great to live in a country were freedom is measured by the lack of freedom in other countries :)
c64c64c64 1 year ago
@c64c64c64 This commercial is an excellent example of why capitalism is such a vastly superior economic system - Kodak wins by profitably selling cameras, which allows them to gainfully employ thousands of people, the songwriter wins by making money from the royalties, the singer wins by being paid, the ad agency wins by making money for their employees, the TV stations win by making money, and the viewers win by enjoying a beautiful work of art for free. Everybody wins, nobody loses!
amateurphilosopher 1 year ago 6
@amateurphilosopher
You've got it absolutely right about capitalism, amateurphilosopher! Ever think of running for a political office? You'd be good!
getsmarts1 8 months ago
@amateurphilosopher Kodak developed the first digital camera around 1975. Its execs were too stupid to realize what they had and basically stuck with the film franchise (they had 80% of the market) for decades. By the time the stooges woke up, Kodak was ruined........out of the film AND camera markets, basically. The current CEO is trying to put the company's remaining cash (from old patent royalties) into the super tough laser printer market. Good luck on that!
mobydoug 3 months ago
@mobydoug Sadly, this kind of mismanagement is all too common - even worse was what Xerox did back around 1969. Having developed a personal computer with a windows-type operating system, they decided it was too expensive to manufacture. Instead, they simply showed it off to anyone who was interested. One of those who was interested was Steve Jobs.
amateurphilosopher 3 months ago 2
@jagman31: In case you missed the news for the past two years, we've essentially sold our country to China, who is thriving economically while our perverted version of capitalism is in its death throes.
agingstoner 6 months ago
@agingstoner: From what I've heard, China might be facing some upheavals in it's future, so I wouldn't be banking on the current situation lasting very long...
Neville6000 1 week ago
i got film today kodak of course.
7466309change 1 year ago
My son asked me to sing this at his wedding reception during our mother/son dance. It was a surprise to me-he just handed me the microphone-and asked me to sing it. Needless to say, it was quite a moment.
lindy2249 1 year ago 6
@lindy2249 You are a very lucky lady - your son obviously loves and cherishes you
caroline0464 1 month ago
@lindy2249
As a parent, that chokes me up.
ArtLenLa 1 month ago 3
@Grundhoffe Thank you for so cynically deconstructing the treasured memory of an entire generation.
problem49 1 year ago
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i really dont get it
lilmama12364 1 year ago
i really dont get it
lilmama12364 1 year ago
While it may well be Ed Ames (I've also heard a clip ascribed to Perry Como) I had looked it up a while back (I sing it to my duck - I'm always asking where she is going) and found that Belafonte wrote it but it's extremely rare to find a copy of him actually singing it. I'm fairly sure that's what I read. Look up the song on wikipedia.
pamelajaye 1 year ago
@pamelajaye The first time I heard this song it was by Harry Belafonte, I didn't remember this commercian but it is wonderful. I started my daughter's photo album in 1962 and used this song as I added to the album over the years.
traylorvh 1 year ago
oh goodness. i'm sobbing now. thank you SO MUCH for sharing this, i've just hugged my son robin goodbye before he moves far away to colorado....
shellsinmyhair 1 year ago 2
I've been waiting over 45 years to see this commercial again. It was always my inspiration for the videos I made and put here on youtube. I now have another one to make because my #2 daughter now 30yo even looks like the girl in the commercial. Thankyou sooo much for posting this!!!
Harleypilot767 1 year ago
I think the singer might be Richard Kiley.
Mactarful 1 year ago
I really do like the voice, but having said this I am a long standing fan of
Ed Ames, and I am pretty sure that he is not the singer. There were quite a number of lyric baritones around at the time - I am not sure, but this could be Vaughn Monroe
milewalker1 1 year ago
beautiful song. did malvina reynolds write this song?
\
stronglikeSamson 1 year ago
@stronglikeSamson Yes, she did.
raymondcrooke 1 year ago
This song is sooo true. My kids grew up before I knew it. To all parents of young children, please cherish this time and the time you have with them right now and love them bigtime. It will pass so quickly.
ggauldin 1 year ago 2
Anyone that was around in the 1960's will fondly remember this one........Nice memories, appropriate for today.
Happy Birthday to my little one, I love you. mOther :0) oxoxo
julialoszewski 1 year ago
i remember the commercial and i used to sing the song to my daughter when she was only a year old. her little face would pucker and she would cry everytime i sang it to her. i so wish i could savor those days again
sunshine46550 1 year ago 3
This commercial struck a chord with me, even though I must have been 10 or 11 the first time I saw it. I loved the song and the sentiment. When my own daughter was born, I used to sing it to her. Recently I went looking for it online, and I found a version by Perry Como, and another by a woman whose name I sadly can't remember right now. Her version contained the verse about the little boy.
Tinneantoo 1 year ago
Malvina Reynold, who wrote this beautiful song.
jsbach15 1 year ago
Innocence lost.
Simon5005 1 year ago
I saw this commercial when I was 5-years-old and I never forgot it. It was so strange because it made me sad at the time because I "knew" one day I would have little girls that would grow up like this. I did have 2 and they both have graduated from college and moved far away, the last one just a couple of weeks ago, and I am very very sad- I cried a lot. It's funny how we can "know" something at a very young age.
jaklyn1055 1 year ago
This makes me think about my own daughter and how she changed over the years and finally grew up. Oh, wait, I don't have any kids. What am I saying?!
Kevin90028 1 year ago
There was another commercial with this song, it was a Mormon Latter-Day Saints. Was on in the 70's.
abc1000001 1 year ago
This really pulls at my heart strings
Vidda90 1 year ago
My graduation speaker's speech was about this. He had my entire graduating class stand up and turn in a circle because he says that he doesn't remember anything his speaker said. It worked though; my entire class remembers standing up and turning around, and pretty much nothing else. I've never actually heard the song before though. It's sad! :(
sporklord4 2 years ago
The woman in the ad reminds me of my own mother who is now 77. It makes me very, very sad.
TypesALot 2 years ago 2
Old songs, old commercials, they were the best.
Waldo, thank you for mentioning a "young man" version because I have this song by some group on a CD and it only has the little girl version and I knew I had heard a little boy verse too
mrstheresa12303 2 years ago
Yeah, I remember the 60 second commercial.
I have 2 more I am interested in also.
The great RED CROSS song commercial.."the Red cross is always there to help" and also...the cartoon BANK AMERICARD COMMERCIAL.
gettalifenow 2 years ago
This theme was employed for not one, but a series of Kodak commercials, several of them shortened to 1-minute formats, including "young man" versions, the tempo speeded up, and different singers used. I saw them as a kid; they were haunting and powerful then and powerful now. I never forgot them.
The singer isn't Ed Ames, though he sounds similar. More likely a studio contract singer. The voice has an "older" timbre than Ames would've been at the time.
Waldocounty 2 years ago
My wife can't get through this song without tearing up. Great commercial.
edybeast 2 years ago 2
Wow!
bwworld 2 years ago
This is such a beautiful advertisement. It breaks my heart and, while I'm only 19, it makes me long for all the years gone by. I'm a very nostalgic person as it is, but this is the kind of thing that really makes me realize that about myself. We need more of this on TV today.
watcherfilmsinc 2 years ago 9
@watcherfilmsinc You are so right.
centoguzzi 2 years ago
PS: My mom says she remembers seeing this on the TV and she said she cried every time.
TasteOfTorment 2 years ago
this sounds like the song that the mother sings in The Lady And The Tramp when she's holding the baby...does anyone else know what I'm talking about?
TasteOfTorment 2 years ago
@TasteOfTorment I'd have to go back and listen. But it DOES sort of have the same theme as SUNRISE, SUNSET from FIDDLER ON THE ROOF.
Nefarioso 4 months ago 2
@Nefarioso Yeah, I think I want to watch it and see again.
TasteOfTorment 4 months ago
I'd heard of this famous ad but never seen it before - thanks!
According to "Mighty Minutes" by Jim Hall (Harmony Books, 1984 - ISBN 0-517-55318-X), the 2-minute ad was introduced by Ed Sullivan on his April 16, 1961 show. Timeless enough to use unchanged 4-5 years later (Instamatic 104 -1965).
Hall describes the singer only as a "gentle-voiced male" - I'm guessing a studio voice hired by JWT. It would have been unusual to use a popular recording behind a TV ad in those days.
cjxn2000 2 years ago 2
Yeah 2 minutes is pretty costly for air time.... Thats crazy.
dicker9point5 2 years ago
Yeah, I remember the 60 second commercial.
I have 2 more I am interested in also.
The great RED CROSS song commercial.."the Red cross is always there to help" and also...the cartoon BANK AMERICARD COMMERCIAL.
gettalifenow 2 years ago
Late Nov. of 1963, this poignant song became a hit for Dick & DeeDee. It was so ironic that this hit by them entered the top-100 charts the same time Pres. JFK was shot... Kodak used Dick & DeeDee for some of these commercials, also. Len-Jee
eljee46 2 years ago
I recall seeing this advert for the first time on The Perry Como Show. Because it was such a moving piece of documentation and music, he introduced it, saying it was created from photos taken by a doctor/dentist (?) of his own daughter and sent to Kodak, who then matched up the song or had it written for the ad. That's as close as I can remember it.
DennisGBlair 2 years ago
Is this the same female in the entire KODAK ad, or are there different ones?
COMING4U 2 years ago
it shows how brilliant an ad campaign can be. And Mad Men does incorporate this idea brilliantly, Don Draper is the genius who nails it.
nicodagger 2 years ago
According to the CLIO archives for 1962 the "voice" for the Kodak Turn Around commercial is Paul Arnold, not Ed Ames. Harry Belafonte and Malvina Reynolds are shown as the songwriters, so it appears to refer to the same commercial.
californiacallsyou 2 years ago
Love the Instamatic 104 ! (1965-68 production).
My own kid pictures were taken with my mother's 104, the first pictures I took when I borrowed her 104.
So, to me, every camera is compared to the Instamatic 104.
Actually not a bad camera, for what it was.
40 years later, I see a 104 in a thrift store, and, almost without exception, the shutter still works (yes, I do have a 104 myself)
zeppozilla: by 1965, polio had pretty much been vanquished, at least in the western world.
1L6E6VHF 2 years ago
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italobambino43: Why did you and the other liberals even come to this video? You obviously don't like the video, because it expresses a kinder, simpler time. You and the other liberal haters spout off about how "evil" those days were compared to today. You don't see how things are much worse today, thanks to folks like you. Liberal views have been destroying this country for a long time, leading to our first socialist president, a corrupt government, and a culture that praises garbage.
surfrider321 2 years ago
My MaMa sang this to me when I was born, she still does every time I ask her to. I'm 18 years old now and I hope to sing it to my daughter when I have one. :)
sing4meNana 2 years ago 21
@sing4meNana GROW UP
lazeta99 1 year ago
@sing4meNana my grandpa and my mom sang this song to me too lol im now 19 and i also hope to sing this song to my kids someday when i have rhem :)
kissinhope 11 months ago
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To those who feel that "those days" were worse than today because of "segregation, nuclear arms, cuban missile crisis, etc.," remember this: those were all problems created by LIBERALS. Today, we have self-segregation by blacks themselves, nuclear insanity by North Korea due to inept "diplomacy" by the Carter and other democrat administrations, and Cuba was something that JFK managed to screw up when he wasn't busy screwing his mistresses in the White House during our glorious "Camelot" days.
surfrider321 2 years ago
And I guess you don't think Republicans created any scandals over the years huh? My grandmother referred to all politicians as "Polishits"!
italobambino43 2 years ago
Who gives a rat's behind what you OR your grandmother think?
surfrider321 2 years ago
Well, others like me who had the pleasure of knowing there Grandparents, and parents who taught them to be productive and responsable adults, who don't reply to others with ignorance and hostility !
italobambino43 2 years ago
You're short changing.
Khultan 2 years ago
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dont stop readin jus coz u see its a forward message.......
1. put your finger on your nose
2. hold your breath for 5 seconds
3. say the name of your love
4. that person will ask you out on the next Friday
5. you will have the best day tomorrow
6. if you don't copy and paste to 2 other videos you will have bad luck and die in 2 days
sportsclub96 2 years ago
There was another one done later in color, too, which I believe had a different male singing it. Harry Belafonte was one of the original cowriters of this song.
You just don't see corporatie TV demanding this type of quality commercials any more, let alone the manufacturers demanding quality programming. Everything is about the mighty dollar and the bottom line. Those of us who remember this commercial remember a gentler time.
lilrocklady 2 years ago 3
I recall this commercial, and as you said, I believe that there was another version done later in color. I recall the catch phrase at the end of the commercial as being "For the times of your life" Would like to find it, I've always told people it was one of the better commercials I've ever heard...
benmart5 2 years ago
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Oh yeah, those gentler Nuclear Arms, Cuban Crisis and Segregation days. You were probably in your place at home while your old man worked because women were not accepted in the workplace. Do you folks who say stuff like 'the good old days' even know what planet you were on? Because, you sure screwed it up! Peace!
trpcham123 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
dont stop readin jus coz u see its a forward message.......
1. put your finger on your nose
2. hold your breath for 5 seconds
3. say the name of your love
4. that person will ask you out on the next Friday
5. you will have the best day tomorrow
6. if you don't copy and paste to 2 other videos you will have bad luck and die in 2 days
LexLuthor009 2 years ago
He sounds a lot like Ed Ames but Ed never sang this song as far as I'm aware of. The accent is different and the style is different. I've listend to almost every song he has and I don't believe this is Ed. You could try looking it up, though. This man has a wonderful voice, very similar to Ed's, but his vibrato is slower and his voice sounds slightly hallow/deep. LOvely song, though! Thanks for sharing!
1964inahlee1968 2 years ago 2
This was during a time when commercials were not obnoxious and disgusting like today (Viagra, endless toilet bowl photos, loud annoying music, etc.). This commercial makes me yearn for that time again.
surfrider321 2 years ago 35
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Great commercial yes, but if you yearn for the old days you should consider: Polio! Hey, it's the iron lung ward! Segregation! Separate water fountains! Javelin Steering collums: Who needs seat belts! Etc...
zeppozilla 2 years ago
@surfrider321 Thing was they were still made for the explicit purpose of taking your money. I'd personally rather they were obnoxious, since the goal is obnoxious.
traccan 1 year ago
@surfrider321 This kind of beats Geico commercials doesn't it.?
Treman262 6 months ago
@surfrider321 yes thoughtfull ness again of us who must listen to that commercial.I love this one.
7466309change 6 months ago
I Was searching for this song by Terri Thomas (sister of Marlo) from an episode of That Girl. It'll break your heart!
Donoldsongs 2 years ago
I haven't seen this great commercial since I was a kid. Now that I'm a father, it makes me a little misty. Beautifully conceived and sung, though it doesn't sound like Harry Belafonte to me.
SirCyrano 2 years ago 2
On the Disneys The Wonderful World of Color, almost every time the show had a documentary subject matter they would show this add. This was before Walt died and they made it Wonderful World of Disney.
Its about the best commercial ever made.
BrassPie 2 years ago 5
The Kodak Carousel slide projector was incorporated into an episode of "Mad Men" (Don Draper develops the family oriented ad campaign for the device) . These cheap,1960's Kodak cameras wasted a lot of film because when you got your pictures back from the drugstore, half of them looked pretty bad. lol. Unfortunately few people could afford Pentax or Nikon SLR cameras in those days. If you wanted your pictures instantly, you could buy a real status symbol--a Polaroid camera!
waverly2468 2 years ago
My favorite commercial growing up. Perhaps I should say epic.
hajune 2 years ago 4
1960s "Go-Go" Kodak Instamatic Commercial
Another classic.
PeterKuriakose 2 years ago
Minox has a similar commercial... of a child in a bucket, trying to get out. Both, excellent commercials.
PeterKuriakose 2 years ago
Or was it a jingle just for this commercial?
PeterKuriakose 2 years ago
Does anyone know the song's name?
PeterKuriakose 2 years ago
Turn Around, sung here by Harry Belafonte, written by Malvina Reynolds who is best known for "little boxes", currently the weeds theme.
Magalamb 2 years ago
That's not Harry Belafonte- his version is much better, musically
dubliner27 2 years ago
Reminds me of my grandson whose video I took with my own 8mm wind-up singlecam.
Ah, those were the days.
PeterKuriakose 2 years ago
I get so nostalgic when I watch this video. Specifically, I get nostalgic for last week. That was when I first saw it.
Kevin90028 2 years ago
This was a wonderful commercial, made all the more melancholy in today's light given the fate of that great company. I grew up in Rochester, NY, when Kodak was referred to as "The Big Yellow Papa"; so many people were employed by them. Went from 60,000 as I was in high school to the dismal count today. My father, God bless him, worked 38 years there, providing his family with the best, cherished moments of our own. I owe a lot of gratitude to this American institution. Godspeed it survives.
clockworktim 3 years ago 5
The 1989 commercial with Michael Bolton singing "Daddy's Little Girl" choked me up even more..and I was an 18-yr-old boy at the time; its far and away the best Eastman Kodak commercial ever. Alas! I can find it nowhere :\
o0Dystopia0o 3 years ago
I can't think of any commercial I've seen that had/has the impact of this one. Simple yet eloquent, happy and sad. Done with style and taste..qualities sadly lacking in most of the ads one sees on tv nowadays (talk about overkill and hype)! Funny, but I used to enjoy watching the ads back in the 60's. Now I mute my remote when they appear. Thanks for posting this memorable ad from "days gone by".
erzbet07 3 years ago 5
beautiful!
brunettebabie402 3 years ago 2
Anyone remember another TV commercial from the late 50's or early 60's where a woman sings this song? I think maybe it was a life insurance commercial. I was just a very young kid at the time, but this version of the song has stayed in my mind ever since.
rodpjohnson 3 years ago
God, this song brings tears to my eyes.....
stadalberts 3 years ago 3
Holy shit my mom used to sing this song to me every night when i was little. thank you for posting this
GLIFiend 3 years ago
Still brings back memories from my daughters wedding -- now she has her own little girl to continue the tradition
ernieper 3 years ago
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An old man once told me, you're not a man 'till you've made a girl.
Kokoots 3 years ago
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or banged one.
combustion8 2 years ago
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robtmwall 2 years ago
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I'll bet you think a turd in a punchbowl is high humor, or better yet stick your head in a churchdoor and yell "f**k" just to annoy people.
robtmwall 2 years ago
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yt2vinay 2 years ago
Thrashy humor isn't appreciated on website like this. Please leave.
PeterKuriakose 2 years ago
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i prefer the alternate version when it ends on a 73-car pile up, and a shot of the girl, now a woman, clutching her bloodied leg
septip123 3 years ago
Motorhead does a version of this
septip123 3 years ago
I am so grateful you found this. I cried as a kid and this touches that same place. It's nice to find pockets of innocence under this blanket of a cynical world. THANKS!
sarahjoost 3 years ago 4
Amazing to think this still exists. I remember this as a kid and often thought of it over the years as one of the more memorable commercials ever. Didn't think I'd ever see it again. Thanks for posting this!
rich56ca 3 years ago 4
That's not Belafonte.
juslookin3 3 years ago 2
I remember the ad well.
smetch123 3 years ago 2
My husband danced with our daughter at her wedding to Harry Belafonte's version. ALL the women and some of the men (including my husband) were crying while they danced; he was so saddened by this he left our daughter on the dance floor after the song finished, luckily our new son-in-law was standing right there (crying) to wrap her in his arms and that was 7 years ago and I still cry every time I hear this song.
STLUCIA5 3 years ago
WoW I can't believe I cried. My 5 year old said that baby is naked! The innocence of those times. You would never see a naked toddler on TV now...thanks for posting Malvina is one of the greatest song writers along with Woody Gutherie
jrib2001 3 years ago
Does anybody know if there was another version to this ad? My parents swear that as children they were mesmerized by a similar Kodak commercial, only the song was sung by a woman. The pictures were somewhat different too.
ModernScarlett 3 years ago
Modern Scarlett, your parents are correct. I well remember the Kodak commercial. It was sung by a woman and it was a much shorter version. This full version makes me weep. Like your parents, the song fascinated me.
snoopy1648 3 years ago
I love this commercial and I wish they still made commercials like these. I wish I could find that other version though. I know my parents would like to see it again.
ModernScarlett 3 years ago
This song is performed by Perry Como...
elvis4410 3 years ago
No, It's Ed Ames.
rogden 3 years ago
Aww that was sweet! But WOW did image quality ever improve!! WOW
brandikiss 3 years ago
This one hit like a shot back in the mid-60s sometime ('64 - '67?). For obvious reasons. I strongly disbelieve that it's the voice of Belafonte, though. Possibly it's an Ames Brother, to mention the other common guess by commenters, but it's surely not Ed.
tandmark 3 years ago
I think the confusion is because Harry Belafonte wrote the song, but this is surely not him singing.
Klovelyheart 3 years ago