These are the small hole punches forming a series of numbers and typically appearing at the end of a roll of film. These punches are probably most commonly seen in home movies at least into the 1970s (and in some cases even into the 1990s), and which were also embraced and employed by experimental filmmakers who enjoyed the extra layer of material surprise they offered, such as Bruce Conner, Robert Nelson, Andy Warhol, and others. For decades, there wasn’t really an official name known for these punches, at least not among archivists or filmmakers, and their original purpose has even been the source of disagreement. But thanks to retired Kodak magicians Alan Masson and John Donahue (who both provided some detailed and very helpful info), I can confirm that Kodak referred to them generally as “roll end punches”. According to Donahue, to whom I had forwarded a photo of some roll end punches reading 72963961404 (please attribute him if you use any part of this quote):
“The roll end punches were applied to camera film formats during finishing of the film to the catalog # specification at Kodak. Either at the end of the roll if it was perforated to the finished length (25′, 50′, 100′, 200′, 400′, 1200′) or, in some formats, perforated as a long stock roll and then when cut to a finished length and then stamped on a cut down spooler.
“The stamp contains the film code 7296
The coated wide roll emulsion # 396
The coated wide roll # 14
The slit part # 04.
“The actual slit ID is not contained on the raw stock but can be read on the latent image after processing. (Part #01 would have been the first part removed from the longer wide roll during the slitting operation. These parts would be various lengths depending on the length required for the various catalog numbers being finished during any given week.)
“The purpose of the stamping was so the camera loader could verify that the stock threaded into the camera was correct and matched the identification on the can label. With so many different film codes, it was not uncommon to have a mix up either in the finishing operation or on the film set.
“The stamping process was time consuming in manufacturing as the stampers were set up in dark rooms and inspections were required for verification before operations began. Sometime in the early 90’s, Kodak introduced Keykode edgeprint and Kodak changed from a tape which secured the roll end in packaging to a printed tab which contained the formerly stamped information in readable and barcode readable format.”
LIGHTSTRUCK 