Restore your 1950s family photographs

The decade that defined family photography

By the 1950s, photography had become a fully domestic activity. Kodak Brownies, Box Hawkeyes, and the new Kodachrome colour film created the visual archive that most modern families inherit. Black-and-white prints from this decade are typically well-exposed but suffer the universal problems of age: yellowing, fading, scuffs, and the cracked-emulsion "alligator skin" pattern from poor storage.

Early Kodachrome slides are a special case — they hold colour remarkably well (Kodachrome 25 prints made in 1955 still look vivid today), but the cardboard mounts warp, and dust and fungus accumulate inside the slide. Scan slides at 4000 DPI and Standard Restoration will lift them to printable quality.

Should I colourise 1950s black-and-white?

The 1950s overlapped with the consumer transition to colour, so it can feel jarring to colourise a black-and-white print from the same year you have colour prints of. Our recommendation: keep black-and-white prints in black and white, and use restoration to repair damage rather than convert the image. Use colourisation for earlier-era photos where no colour reference exists.