When Kodak introduced its Brownie camera at the turn of the 20th century, photography became available to the masses. Like other Americans, residents of Berthoud and the surrounding rural districts eagerly purchased cameras and used them to chronicle the people and events of their lives. Those black and white snapshots, taken over many decades, now form a valuable part of the historical record that resides in the collections of the Berthoud Historical Society.

The late Bill Sterkel, a Berthoud native and member of a German from Russia family, never forgot how he got his first camera. As a young boy in the 1910s, Bill determined that the only way he would ever get his hands on a camera was to go door-to-door selling tins of Rosebud salve. (The company offered cameras as premiums to people who sold their products.) Bill eventually earned his camera and caught a picture-taking bug that lasted his lifetime.

The Berthoud Historical Society would like to thank everyone, who over the years, donated photographs or loaned them for copying. Without their generosity the production of a calendar filled with snapshots would not be possible. We also offer our sincere appreciation to the Berthoud businesses
and individuals that sponsor calendar pages and make this annual project possible.

We present to you Snapshots of Berthoud. We hope that this calendar helps fulfill our mission to discover, preserve and interpret the history of Berthoud, the Little Thompson Valley, Colorado, and the surrounding region.

Please enjoy!

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