Baby Boomer Memory Lane: Polaroid Camera’s
If you were growing up, say, in the 1950's or the 1960's or maybe the 1970's, there were TV shows and names and products that were a part of your everyday life.
Gleem toothpaste ring a bell? How about that Vitalis that your dad used to pour on his hair? And if I say 'Granny' or 'Barney' or 'Gilligan', do certain TV shows come to mind?
And chances are good, and I mean mighty good, that the name Polaroid brings a smile to your face as well.
When's the last time you snapped a photo, and I mean a photo not on your smart phone?
Yes, hard as it is to believe, in the 'old days' a camera was...well...a camera! It wasn't a phone, it didn't connect to something called the internet and it didn't tell you what corner to take to get to the store you're looking for.
What it did was take pictures. And it was a Polaroid.
The company was actually founded way back in 1937 by a guy named Edwin H. Land (Yes, that's why there was the famous Polaroid Land Camera). But for me, the hey-day was in the 50's, 60's and 70's. We had a variety of Polaroid's through the years, and you didn't just snap pictures everyday, no sir! You took pictures at special events, like Christmas, weddings, vacations, family reunions. Now, of course, with their smartphone, people take pictures of their dog's sleeping or their cat looking out the window. Exciting.
Of course when talking photo's back in the day, you have to also mention Kodak. In fact, Polaroid sued Kodak back in 1976 over the Instant Camera. Polaroid eventually won the lawsuit.
The decline of Polaroid began in 1977 and with ever emerging new technology Polaroid tried reinventing itself in the 1980's. Finally, the original Polaroid Corporation filed for bankruptcy in October of 2001. Polaroid emerged for that and as happens with big businesses, was restructured, bought by other companies and still is in business today.
But for me, the Polaroid will always mean the pictures that we took decades ago and still live, not in some electronic device, but in a photo album (or two or three or four) in a drawer in the spare bedroom.
Oh and by the way, some of the most famous television commercials ever were for Polaroid. Remember that great series of ad's with James Garner and Mariette Hartley? They were so convincing everyone thought they were married! (They weren't). Check out one of them below.
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