The end of an era is soon approaching. Polaroid is going to stop making its instant film this year. I venture to say that most us grew up with the Polaroid photo.
I remember as a kid going to my grandparents home for holidays and birthday and out would come the camera. My grandfather had the large fold out kind you can see above. I wish now it had not gotten thrown out years ago. We would all stand close for the photo, the flash would blind us, he would pull out the film, his model had a fancy timer that buzzed after the 60 or 90 seconds you had to wait, then the peeling back to reveal the photo. I would rush over to see it being careful not to touch the image since it still was drying. Those photos would get placed on frames in front of last years “professional” school photos. Some how the Polaroid was always better. My dad continued this tradition after my grandfather passed away. He would bring his Polaroid to all the family events, vacations and activities. He would take the photos and give them to all in attendance. At the time I was a bit older and it seemed embarrassing but looking at those old Polaroids now I am glad they where taken. My dad loved to pass them around and watch the reactions they gave. You had the only copy, the one and only. In today’s age of digital pixels, with copies sent on email and on CD, having the one and only copy seems well, special.
Polaroid announced it is making film that should get everyone through 2008 but after that the era ends. Some are trying to keep instant photos alive at savepolaroid.com. For now, stock up on your film and after that, I guess we will have to add the Polaroid border to our digital photos to kinda keep the tradition alive.
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