The only medium speed Kodak B+W film I remember from my youth was Verichrome Pan. In my 'circles' Panatomic-X and Tri-X were popular, though Ilford HPS/HP3 was often preferred in the faster range. The mainstay medium speed film was Ilford Selochrome or FP3, although the connoisseur's film was Adox KB17. The combination of KB17 and Agfa Brovira paper had a strong following, notably for the rich warm tones that this gave.

The earliest colour film I remember was Gevaert (pre-Agfa-Gevaert) which I recall was just a tad undersaturated, but that could be due as much to the inherrent low contrast of cheap camera lenses as the film, etc. Kodak colour film was very popular, though pre-1960s all colour film was expensive and often only used (by most amateurs) for 'special' occasions.

Interesting Ilford history website

.T.