Walter A. Fallon and Eastman Kodak Company
Walter Fallon Eastman Kodak
Here comes another exciting passport history story, thanks to a US reader who contacted me on these documents asking for advice. Chris owns four US passports from Walter A. Fallon, the chief executive of the Eastman Kodak Company, from 1972 to 1983. One passport is from his wife, Shirley. The travel documents were issued between 1964 and 1977. Only the wife’s document has a small corner cut (to make the passport obsolete). Walter Fallon Eastman Kodak
During Walter’s tenure, Kodak introduced Ektaprint office copiers; Ektachem blood analyzers; and disk cameras. It sold tens of millions of disk cameras before it lost ground to 35-millimeter models in the 1980s.
Kodak’s sales increased to $10.8 billion in 1982 from $3.48 billion at the end of 1972, and its workforce rose to 136,500 from 114,800 during the same period. Months before his departure in 1983, Kodak’s hometown payroll peaked at 60,400 employees. Today, it has fallen to 4,500. Walter Fallon Eastman Kodak
Under Mr. Fallon, Kodak was also sued by the Polaroid Corporation, which asserted that its patents for instant photography had been infringed. Polaroid eventually won. Kodak paid it $925 million in 1991.
Mr. Fallon was a native of Schenectady, N.Y. A chemist, he joined Kodak in 1941. He became chief executive and president in May 1972. He became chairman in 1977 and retained all three posts until his retirement in July 1983.
Walter died in 2002 at his home in Irondequoit, a suburb of Rochester. He was 84.
“I deeply mourn the passing of a great leader,” Kodak’s CEO in 2002, Dan Carp, said. “Walt built much of the foundation for the success of Kodak. He had a vision of the world as a single marketplace.” Walter Fallon Eastman Kodak
Travel documents of such stern industry leaders are hard to find as usually they stay with the family or end up in auctions or even in a trash bin. For passport collectors, they might be treasures, especially if you are related to Kodak or coming from the Rochester, NY area. Walter Fallon Eastman Kodak
Do you remember the KODAK Disc Cameras? Take a look at Doug Stinson’s camera collection…
Tom Topol | Passport History Expert & Author.
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