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How to date a photo from the 1970s: orange tones, textured paper and the first SX-70 Polaroids

· 4 min read · The Memory Palace Team

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Short answer: A photo from 1970 to 1979 is almost always in colour, often with a white border and colours that have drifted towards orange or red. Look for small prints from 110 pocket cameras (1972), square SX-70 Polaroids with a wide bottom border (1972), finely textured paper, and the backprint This Paper Manufactured by Kodak (from 1972).

Last updated: 2 November 2026. Every year on this page was checked against the museums, archives and photo-history sources listed at the bottom.

The 1970s are easy to recognise and hard to pin down: the colours, the clothes and the interiors all say 1970s, but which year? The paper, the surface and the format help narrow it, because several of them changed in a known year.

Formats and prints

  • 110 prints. Kodak introduced 110 cartridge film in 1972 for flat pocket cameras. The negative is small, so the prints are small and lose sharpness when enlarged.
  • Square instant prints. Polaroid's SX-70 of 1972 made square prints that develop by themselves, with a wide white border at the bottom. Kodak sold its own instant cameras and film from 1976 to 1986. See Polaroid and instant photos.
  • Square Instamatic prints. 126 cartridge film from the 1960s was still widely used.
  • Surface and paper. In the early 1970s most Kodak prints had a fine silk texture; from 1976 a smoother lustre surface replaced it. Resin-coated prints from 1968 to 1980 can show fine cracks in the surface layer.
  • Lab text. From the late 1970s small one-hour minilabs could print a line of text, such as a frame or order number, on the back.

The back and the colours

From May 1972 to about 1989 Kodak colour paper carried This Paper Manufactured by Kodak on the back; before that it said A Kodak Paper. Other brands, such as Agfa and Fuji, have their own backprints, which can be compared with dated prints from the same box.

The typical 1970s look, with orange, red or magenta tones, is often ageing rather than the original colour. In prints from before the 1980s kept in the dark, the cyan dye was the weakest, so they drift towards red. Prints that hung in the light lose magenta first and shift towards cyan or green.

Clothes, hair and interiors

Flared trousers, wide collars, long hair and sideburns for men, platform shoes, and patterned knitwear are typical. Interiors show brown, orange and green, patterned wallpaper and wood panelling. Late in the decade hair was often feathered and trousers became straighter again.

Quick checklist

  • Small 110 print, square Instamatic print or square SX-70 instant print?
  • Back: A Kodak Paper (to 1972) or This Paper Manufactured by Kodak (from 1972)?
  • Surface: fine silk texture (early 1970s) or smooth lustre (from 1976)?
  • A printed line of text on the back (late 1970s or later)?
  • Clothes: flares and wide collars, or straighter lines (late 1970s)?

Try the free photo date tool

Not sure yet? The free photo date tool asks what you can see (the material, the colour, the edge, the back, a printed year) and turns your answers into a period, with the source behind each year. It needs no account and uploads nothing. For digital photos and scans, read when was this photo taken.

Once you know the year

Write the year in soft pencil on the back, and put it at the start of the file name when you scan it. Then hang it with its date in your palace: in The Memory Palace each photo gets its year, the people in it and the story that goes with it, in a room the family can walk through together. You can start your palace for free.

Date a photo from another decade

Previous decade: The 1960s (1960 to 1969). Next decade: The 1980s (1980 to 1989).

Start from the overview: when was this photo taken, or the seven general clues in how to tell when an old photo was taken. All guides on old photos:

Sources

Questions people ask

How can I tell if a photo is from the 1970s?

Check the back for This Paper Manufactured by Kodak (May 1972 to about 1989) or A Kodak Paper (until 1972), the format (110 prints and SX-70 Polaroids both start in 1972) and the surface (a fine silk texture in the early 1970s, lustre from 1976). Flares, wide collars and long hair for men complete the picture.

Why do my 1970s photos look orange?

Usually because the dyes have faded unevenly. In colour prints from before the 1980s that were stored in the dark, the cyan dye fades fastest, leaving a red or orange cast. A scan with colour correction, or a free restore, can bring back much of the original colour.

Why does my 1970s photo have a textured surface?

Kodak introduced a finely textured silk surface with resin-coated paper in 1968. It was the main photofinishing surface in the early 1970s until lustre replaced it in 1976. A silk texture therefore points to about 1968 to 1976.

When was this photo taken?

Reads the date taken from digital photos and says when only a file date is left. For paper photos and scans, a checklist with sources estimates the period.

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