Product Details
CompanyPolaroid Corporation Certificate TypeCommon Stock Date IssuedNovember 27, 1987 (blue)
December 5, 1986 (brown)CanceledYesPrinterSecurity-Columbian/United States Bank Note Company (blue)
Security-Columbian Bank Note Company (brown)SignaturesMachine printedApproximate Size12" (w) by 8" (h)ImagesShow the exact certificate you will receiveGuaranteed AuthenticYesAdditional DetailsNA
Historical Context
The original Polaroid Corporation was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by Edwin Land and George W. Wheelwright III in 1937. It has been described by The Boston Globe as a "juggernaut of innovation", and "the Apple of its time" with a "leader in Edwin Land, a scientist who guided the company as the founding CEO for four decades". Polaroid’s initial market was in polarized sunglasses — spawned from Land’s self-guided research in light polarization. Land, having completed his freshman year at Harvard University, left to pursue this market, resulting in Polaroid's birth. Land later returned to Harvard to continue his research.
Polaroid, owning patents to its polarizer technology, got its start by employing polarization in products that included 3-D movies and protective goggles for military dogs. During World War II, Polaroid designed and manufactured numerous products for the armed services including an infrared night viewing device. He led the company as CEO for 43 years. He headed the Polaroid Corporation, developing it from a small research and marketing firm into a well known high-tech company. Kodak was a customer for some of Land's polarizing products. Recognized by most as the father of instant photography, he included all the operations of a darkroom inside the film itself. He gave the first public demonstration of his new Land Camera in February 1947; from then until 1972, the user had to release the film manually, pull a tab, and peel the negative from the finished positive print—the first version to eliminate these intermediate steps was the SX-70 of 1972, which ejected the print automatically. Land was pictured on the cover of Life magazine in 1972 with the inscription, "A Genius and His Magic Camera".
In the 1940s, Polaroid purchased the B B Chemical Company building at 784 Memorial Drive in Cambridge, Massachusetts for its headquarters. The landmark Streamline Moderne style structure would be added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1982.
When Kodak announced instant film cameras in 1976, Polaroid announced they were suing them, accusing Kodak of having stolen its patented instant photography process. In the two years that followed the lawsuit, total sales of instant cameras climbed from 7.4 million cameras in 1976 to 10.3 million in 1977 and 14.3 million in 1978. The suit in federal court lasted 10 years. Polaroid asked for $12 billion for infringements of its patents by Kodak. The court ruled in favor of Polaroid and ordered Kodak to cease instant picture production, plus pay Polaroid $909.5 million of the $12 billion it had asked for.
Decline
In 1977, Land introduced the Polaroid Instant Home Movie camera named Polavision, based on the Dufaycolor process. However, the product arrived on the market when videotape-based systems were rapidly gaining popularity. Thus it failed to sell well in retail stores and has been described as the swan song for Polaroid. After four decades as chairman, Edwin Land was coerced into resigning and leaving the corporation he had founded. He died in 1991. The Polavision debacle eventually caused the company to write off $89 million, including most of the manufactured products. The underlying technology of Polavision was later improved for use in the Polachrome instant slide film system.
In the 1980s, Polaroid tried to reinvent itself without Land at its helm by shifting away from a dependence on consumer photography, a market that was in steady decline. In 1984 Polaroid announced "that it would enter the United States electronic video market with its own line of Polaroid videotapes."
Polaroid was forced to make wholesale changes that included having to fire thousands of workers and close many factories. The 1980s saw the advent of new technologies that profoundly changed the world of photography — one-hour color film processing, single-use cameras from competitors, videotape camcorders, and, in the 1990s and 2000s, digital cameras.
The company was in fact one of the early manufacturers of digital cameras, with the PDC-2000 in 1996; however, it failed to capture a large market share in that segment.
It also made 35 mm and multi-format scanners, such as Polaroid SprintScan 4000 35 mm scanner (the first scanner with a 4000 DPI CCD) in 1999, and the Polaroid PrintScan 120 in 2000. The scanners received mixed reviews and saw heavy competition from Nikon and Minolta products. The entire line was discontinued when Polaroid entered bankruptcy in 2001.
Prior to bankruptcy, the company sold its landmark, historic headquarters building and surrounding property to The Bulfinch Companies for $10 million.
Bankruptcy
The original Polaroid Corporation filed for federal Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on October 11, 2001. The outcome was that within ten months, most of the business (including the "Polaroid" name itself and non-bankrupt foreign subsidiaries) had been sold to Bank One's One Equity Partners (OEP). OEP Imaging Corporation then changed its name to Polaroid Holding Company (PHC). However, this new company operated using the name of its bankrupt predecessor, Polaroid Corporation.
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