It has happened to me a couple of times before..... Someone will ask me about a roll of film that they've been given, or found in an old garage sale camera, or in a box up in their Aunt Tillie's attic. Last fall a distant relative of a friend-of-a-friend of a former colleague of mine found a roll of Verichrome in the attic and the search commenced. Will the pictures come out? I think they might. Here's are a couple examples of the work of some other film finders.

We all know that film expires, but being an analog material, it's not like a switch is turned off and the film is kaput. The date on a box of film is a there to provide information: best results are achieved when the film is used by the date on the box. Film is actually quite resilient. Historians, genealogists, and the rest of us just regular people have plenty of examples of original film images and prints. Some are now over one hundred and fifty years old.

What about the possibility of finding some images taken decades ago? How about the possibility of discovering some pictures of a long-lost relative? It makes it worth trying to develop. But how? But where? For some (especially old color) films, I've recommended sending the film into Rocky Mountain Lab. They specialize in the old photographic processes and can generally recover what is on the film.

With black and white Verichrome, I'll take it to the darkroom and give it a go myself. Do you suppose there are any pictures on it? Well, sensing there was no rush ..... The film had been hanging around for some 50 years already; it's on the to-do list. After I relax the film with a little humidity treatment, I'll be giving it a little extra time in D-76 with a little more antifoggant. Negs and scans soon. I hope we get something of interest and value. I'll keep you posted.