CHOW recently presented a tribute to American cuisine past and antiquated mediums with The Last Kodachrome Christmas. The photo shoot is inspired by vintage food photography, and uses actual Kodachrome — a type of film long assumed extinct, but rather just in its late stage death throes.

Often associated with boring vacation slides and brilliantly oversaturated imagery, one might ask why CHOW would even use Kodachrome. Well, the answer can be summed up by a simple philosophy that we stick to here at Foodiggity… food ephemera kicks ass.

Regardless of how horrific it can sometimes be, food ephemera helps us hearken back to a simpler time when American cuisine was limited to the creative use of SPAM, and food styling was making sure that all of your tomato roses were straight. The nostalgic imagery, if not immediately nauseating, makes us feel all warm and fuzzy. Perhaps it’s the over-the-top colors and retina-searing contrast that only Kodachrome can deliver.

More importantly, CHOW slips this photo shoot in before Kodachrome is officially extinct. Eastman Kodak who first introduced the film in 1935, discontinued it in 2009. And, the last processor of Kodachrome in the world, Dwayne’s Photo, will stop developing the film on December 30, 2010.

So enjoy this colorful and frightening depiction of former American haute cuisine. Let it also act as reminder to get that roll of Kodachrome that you shot at the Hoover Dam in 1978 to Dwayne’s Photo, pronto.

[CHOW]