Nov. 28, 1948: Polaroid’s Model 95 instant camera goes on sale for the first time at Boston’s Jordan Marsh department store. The price tag on the “Land Camera” — named for its inventor, Edwin Land — is $89.95, roughly equivalent to a year’s salary for the average amateur photographer back then.
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But the camera was a major advance over the existing technology in that you could get that snapshot of your thumb right away. Whereas with less expensive equipment, you had to wait. This breathtaking leap forward made Polaroid the leading supplier of gear to impatient photographers. In fact, the company’s products were so superior that Kodak quit the instant camera business a mere 38 years after Polaroid introduced the Model 95.
Unfortunately, Polaroid could not maintain its technological edge in the face of a challenge from digital imaging. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and its assets were sold to One Equity Partners in 2002. The buyout firm developed a licensing business for the next two and a half years, then sold the rights to the Polaroid name in 2005 for $426 million, a nice gain on its $60 million equity investment. Which just proves that good things come to those who wait. — Jeffrey Kanige
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