Everything Old is New Again…or all Things Must Pass?

On My way to a Magic Show

Just a couple of weeks ago, I was on my way to do my Strolling/Close up Magic for a retirement party. My trip took me on Route 128.in Waltham Ma. I passed a building being demolished. I remember this building so well. When I was a kid, it was one of the largest on that highway.

This building sat alone, as it was one of the few buildings in view on this section of highway. The company reinvented photography, well at least the time of developing a picture. The company’s name… Polaroid.

The building I knew way back then was owned and operated by the POLAROID Company. Their contribution to photography was instant gratification. You could take a picture, it would pop out of the camera, and in 60 seconds, “Voila”, a fully developed black-and-white photo. The first film packs included a tube of fixative, which you needed to apply to the picture to preserve it. People were not talented at applying the fixative, which is clear in old “streaky” Polaroid photos.

Polaroid History

Unfortunately, the sacrifice made for an instant photo was picture quality, but we didn’t seem to mind, as seen by the success of the many cameras produced. Maybe Polaroid’s biggest innovation was an impatient society.

For those of you who were born during the digital age, we had many cameras available, and the picture quality was good to excellent. Unfortunately, we used film in the cameras. The film needed to be sent out for development and the pictures printed. The entire process could take a couple of weeks. (No joy, ;()

Everything old is new again Polaroid Today

So, what do I know? For reasons beyond my understanding, there is still a niche for the Polaroid instant camera. Competing with our cell phones, I really don’t understand why.

Joe Ferranti

The Massachusetts Close-Up Magician