MR. POLAROID - PBS

Stembolt

May 19, 2025

Documentary

Long before the iPhone, another inventive device allowed everyone to instantly chronicle their lives — the Polaroid camera. The product, and the company’s unique culture, would launch not only instant photography mania but also become the model for today’s Silicon Valley tech culture. It all began with the Polaroid Model 95, first offered for sale in the fall of 1948. MR. POLAROID tells the little-known story of the man behind the camera, a Harvard dropout named Edwin Land.

px_eliezer_

Stembolt

Thanks!

I’m a Boomer and I always heard of Land because the cameras were branded as “Polaroid Land Camera”.

takeahike

px_eliezer_

That was pretty much what everybody had at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. I was 11 y.o. and they had a booth there where you could get the address of someone your age overseas to be a pen pal, so with The Beatles such a big thing for me I picked someone from Liverpool. He didn’t like The Beatles!😒

1964-65 NY World’s Fair

RayGeode

I’ll definitely check it out. I Have got some treasured pictures from it. I just found one more inside an album, under the clear sleeve. Sharp. Brings back memories.

Astyanax

I’m sure everybody waved the picture in the air as if it needed to “dry” to develop faster. 🙂

I remember getting a hold of the camera as a kid and started playing with it and taking a couple of pictures. When my parents caught me boy were they mad! The film cost like over $1 a shot and that was back then!

takeahike

Stembolt

Watch it here: Click on the settings ⚙️ icon to get subtitles.