Polaroid

12-20-06

My second camera is actually the tale of two cameras. I was selected yearbook editor during my senior year in high school (1965-66). That same year my former agriculture teacher bought a Polaroid camera—I can’t recall the model—and basically turned it over to me for yearbook use and to photograph FFA events for him. With him buying film and flashbulbs I was in photographic heaven that year. It just couldn’t get any better than that.

Unfortunately, that year came to a speedy conclusion, and I had to turn that camera back over to its owner. Immediately, however, I began to suffer from Polaroid addiction withdrawl. I set about to fill this void by taking on summer jobs and as many part time jobs as possible while attending college. One of my first major purchases with my own earned money was the very best (at that time) Polaroid camera available. It served me well through college when I could afford to buy the film packs and flashbulbs.

Several years after graduation someone would break into my home and steal that camera, making it impossible to display with my other treasured cameras. It wasn’t worth much then—didn’t even work, as I recall—except to me as a reminder of all the fun it provided. I still have the pictures. And I remember it was a beautiful camera—such powerful fun!