[Michael B]

Originally Posted by SAllen2556

Pardon me, but I'm curious about this. When do you suppose these original hollywood negatives were sent out for duplication? And do you have any clue how this was done?

The reason I ask is because I did not think, at least with newspapers, that copies of negatives were ever created. Polaroid created a copy camera that would create a 4 x 5 negative from a photo, but I never heard of copying a negative from a negative.

Within his comment he states why this was done - they get lost and they wear out. Reusing a negative over and over again can damage it. Putting a negative strip into a neg holder, it looks like a waffle iron with a rectangular opening in the middle for the negative you wish to print, over and over again can cause scratches if the person printing is not careful. Additionally the light can affect the emulsion, especially on color negatives and transparencies (slides). It is was very common for photographers who shot transparencies to make dupes. There is this tube you can attach to your camera with an attachment on the end that can hold a slide. You can then take a picture of the slide, creating a duplicate. There is also a tabletop machine that can do the same. Some labs would also make internegatives from transparencies. These were 3x4 or so negatives made from the slide that could be used to make prints. One of the pro labs I used years ago would make internegatives for me when I was getting concert photos printed.