Shake it Like a Polaroid
Polaroid American Pop Culture
Polaroid Corporation was originally founded in 1937 by Edwin H. Land and is most famous for their instant film cameras introduced into the market in 1948. After Polaroid defeated Kodak in a patent battle, Kodak left the instant camera business on January 9, 1986 and the Polaroid Instant Film Camera continued to be the company’s leading product line until 2008 when a decision was made to cease all production in favor of digital photography.
Polaroid developed an instant movie system, Polavision, based on the Dufaycolor process. The product arrived on the market when videotape based systems were rapidly gaining popularity. As a result, Polavision was unsuccessful and most of the manufactured product was sold off at a major loss. Its underlying technology was later improved for use in the Polachrome instant slide film system. The company also was one of the early manufacturers of digital cameras, with the PDC-2000 in 1996, however, they failed to capture a large enough market share in that segment to be successful. On October 11, 2001, Polaroid Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Almost all the company’s assets (including the “Polaroid” name itself) were sold to a subsidiary of Bank One. They went on to form a new company, which also operates under the name “Polaroid Corporation”. It stopped making Polaroid cameras in 2007 and stopped selling Polaroid film after 2009, to the consternation of some users. The renamed “old” Polaroid now exists solely as an administrative shell. Its bankruptcy was widely believed to be the result of the failure of its senior management to anticipate the effect of digital cameras on its film business. Recently Polaroid partnered with Lady Gaga, appointing her as a Creative Director for the company. Polaroid cameras captured and are part of American Pop Culture.
Shake it Like a Polaroid ?
Polaroid Auto-Focus Film Camera
From the Polaroid website:
Jan. 6, 2011 – Polaroid and its Creative Director, Lady Gaga today unveiled Polaroid Grey Label, an original line of products co-designed with Lady Gaga. This collaboration between two cultural icons reflects Polaroid’s long standing tradition of innovation tracing back to founder Dr. Edwin Land and Lady Gaga’s mission to deliver products that enable creativity for all, celebrate artistry and make sharing instantaneous across the physical and digital. The inaugural Polaroid Grey Label line is truly expressive of Lady Gaga’s artistic vision and includes the GL10 Instant Mobile Printer, GL30 Instant Digital Camera and the GL20 Camera Glasses, a unique new look at how to turn images into a fashion statement.
About Polaroid
Across several generations, people regard Polaroid as one of the most trusted, well-respected and recognizable brands when it comes to instant photography. The Polaroid brand has been around for more than 70 years starting with polarized sunglasses which then evolved into instant film, camera and camera accessories, marking the beginning of the well recognized Polaroid Classic Border Logo. In recent years, the Polaroid brand has expanded into flat panel televisions, portable DVD players, digital photo frames, digital HD camcorders, waterproof digital cameras and more. People can expect to see new Polaroid products that will deliver the fun, instant gratification and value for which the brand has long stood. (www.Polaroid.com).
Theremin Novelty or Instrument ?
The Theremin
The theremin, originally known as the etherophone, thereminophone or thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Leon Theremin, who patented the device in 1928.
The controlling section usually consists of two metal antennas which sense the position of the player’s hands and control oscillators for frequency with one hand, and amplitude (volume) with the other, so it can be played without being touched. The electric signals from the theremin are amplified and sent to a loudspeaker. The theremin is associated with a very eerie sound, which has led to its use in movie soundtracks such as Miklos Rozsas for Spellbound and The Lost Weekend as well as Bernard Herrmanns for The Day the Earth Stood Still and as the theme tune for the ITV drama Midsomer Murders. Theremins are also used in concert music (especially avant-garde and 20th- and 21st-century new age music) and in popular music genres such as rock. Psychedelic rock bands in particular, such as Hawkwind, have often used the theremin in their work. Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin has employed the instrument most noteablely on the highly successful song Whole Lotta Love. The theremn can also be heard in the Space Age Pop and Music Exotica Genres of the 50s and 60s.
Leon Theremin was a Russian and Soviet inventor. He is most famous for his invention of the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments. He is also the inventor of interlace, a technique of improving the picture quality of a video signal, widely used in video and television technology. His invention of “The Thing”, an espionage tool, is considered a predecessor of RFID technology. Leon Theremin after having a lengthy tour of Europe demonstrating his theremin to packed houses found his way to the United States, where he patented his invention in 1928 (US1661058). Subsequently, Theremin granted commercial production rights to RCA. Although the RCA Thereminvox was not a commercial success, it fascinated audiences in America and abroad as a novelty instrument. Robert Moog, began building theremins in the 1950s, while he was a high-school student. Moog subsequently published a number of articles about building theremins, and sold theremin kits which were intended to be assembled by the customer. Moog credited what he learned from the experience as leading directly to his groundbreaking synthesizer, the Moog.
Check out the – Music Out of the Moon 45 RPM Record Set Featuring the Theremin Here