George Eastman's Modern Stone-Age Family: Snapshot Photography and the Brownie

In 1900, George Eastman brought snapshot photography to the masses with the introduction of the $1 Brownie camera. Borrowing the name and likeness of the folkloric creatures popularized (or instrumentalized) by Palmer Cox, Eastman conflates folklore and technology. He allies his product with an enchanted world, and creates a magical tale of origins for the little box camera. This essay analyzes the advertising campaign that first mass-marketed modern snapshot photographing as a form of folk narrative.