Grahame N's Web Pages


FRENCH
PATHÉ-BABY ADVERTISING -
LEAFLETS & MAGAZINE ADVERTS
POST-WAR (1940s - 1960)


The Pathé-Frères (Pathé Brothers) Company was formed in France around 1896 and made huge inroads into the entertainment business - both recorded music and then moving pictures. Having dabbled with an earlier home movie film gauge - 28mm, a neater, more economical size of 9.5mm was launched after the first war around 1922 once the techniques of reversal film processing had been perfected. Soon the company spread its wings not only to the UK , but eventually in many other countries using what we would now call franchising to establish various other branches worldwide. Sadly World War 11 with France under Nazi occupation limited any further expansion and by the 1950s the Kodak company had made large inroads into amateur filming with the 8mm film gauge and TV and professional filming with their 16mm film size. Here are various magazine adverts and publlcity leaflets from the original French Pathé-Baby company (the amatuer film section of Pathé-Frères) up to 1939 - added as I come across these interestng items. Publicity (if dated) is always a useful guide to dating and for specifications of commercial products.

The Pathé company marketing 'home movies' continued as Pathé-Baby for a few years in the 1950s, but by the mid 1950s became (I think!) S.C.I. Pathé and eventually merged with other cine companies with further name changes into the 1960 s and 1970s.

Certainly, sometime around 1961 E.P.C. was formed out of Erscam; S.C.I. Pathé and Cineric Hopefully I can add a 'Page 3' for some of these items.


 




Advert in Ciné Amateur magazine December 1949 - Pathé-Baby had got off to a quick start after the war with new products
The Webo "A" camera used an easy-load film magazine; the Webo "M" was a superb design with triple lens turret and reflex viewing





Advert in Ciné Amateur magazine August 1950 - Pathé-Baby had got off to a quick start after the war with new products
ciné projector designs were named Joinville (the place of the main factory) - this range offered designs in 16mm as well as 9.5mm
with optical, and very soon magnetic sound - quite professional designs but also quite expensive!
(Incidentally whilst 16mm models had 2000 foot spool arms, the 9.5mm versions were normally only suitable for 1000 foot spools)
(In the UK - the first optical sound Joinville machine was marketed as the 'Pax')


 



Advert in Photo-Cinéma magazine April 1951 - the Pathé 9.5mm camera film stocks including Kodachrome!
- well it was all made by Kodak anyway!
(Around 1927 the Pathé and Kodak filmstock divisions had merged to form Kodak-Pathé in France)



Not sure of a date for this advertisement which came from a French magazine "Plaisir De France" - probably mid 1950s



Publication of the Pathé-Baby house magazine seems to have re-started around 1955 but with a 'bookstall' style
targeted at general movie making - it included adverts from other companies,
but still included details of the latest Pathe-Baby 9.5mm film releases
This advert for the really upmarket professional type Pathe Webo M cine camera is in issue 3 dated October-November 1955
- the Webo M was available in 9.5mm and 16mm versions - there was even a Super 8 model many years later!


       
Le Cinéma Chez Soi magazine again for October - November 1955 - Christmas is coming soon!
- the company now trading as S.C.I. Pathé - was also distributing tape recorders, radios & televisions!

 
 Advert in the same Le Cinéma Chez Soi magazine dated Oct-Nov1955 - 8mm as well as 9.5mm printed films now!


Nice colour advert for the ill choosen and ill-fated Duplex system of running 9.5mm on its side and as double-run;
- you don't understand? - well neither did anyone else in or around 1956 when I guess this advert appeared in an amateur cine magazine



Pathé 'house' magazine Cinéma Chez Soi No.16 dated April/May 1956 - introduction of Duplex - a screwy
idea of 'double-run' 9.5mm producing a projected film 4.75mm wide!!



Pathé 'house' magazine Cinéma Chez Soi No.10 dated February 1957 -
probably some of the last French 9.5mm optical sound releases, plus a bit of colour!
(it was easy to release decent sound titles - French Pathé owned the rights anyway!



Pathé 'house' magazine Cinéma Chez Soi No.10 dated February 1957 - introduction of Duplex - a screwy
idea of 'double-run' 9.5mm producing a projected film 4.75mm wide!!



Pathé 'house' magazine Cinéma Chez Soi No.15 dated December 1957 - the Mirage projector -
odd design mechanism actualy scratches the films!



Pathé 'house' magazine Cinéma Chez Soi No.17 dated April 1958 - Pathé had re-introduced the Webo "A"
9.5mm cine camera now with "C" mount lens as the "Rio" - soon to have built-in exposure meter as the "Rio-Phot!



Pathé 'house' magazine Cinéma Chez Soi No.10 dated February 1957 - Pathé had introduced a tape/film synchroniser!
- this edition contained a full technical article



Pathé 'house' magazine Cinéma Chez Soi No.19 dated September 1958 - Pathé had moved into haut fidélité - "Hi-Fi"!



Pathé 'house' magazine Cinéma Chez Soi No.19 dated September 1958 - still marketing the really upmarket Webo M cine camera!



Pathé 'house' magazine Cinéma Chez Soi No.36 dated Autumn 1961 - similar size comparison advert to UK Pathéscope
In English - "in cinema each millimetre counts!"
Still pushing 9.5mm! Well they did have massive warehouse stocks to shift!!



In France the film coating divisions of Pathé and Kodak merged around 1927
so in France, Kodak themselves advertised 9.5mm filmstock - this advert dates from 1960


Return to: PATHE MENU ................ or return to: MAIN MENU


Created26Apr2015....... Last updated: 05 November 2017 ..............pathe/pathebabyad2.htm .......... ©MMXV Grahame .L. Newnham
04May2015 - a few more later adverts from the late 1950s and early 1960s added
09May2015 - Duplex and Mirage adverts added / 25Sep2015 - a colour Duplex advert added
04Feb2017 - Kodak 9.5mm advert added / 05Nov2017 - Faites du Vrai Cinema advert added