Polaroid Is Born

• Author: Ronald K. Fierstein
• Profession: Lawyer on the team of litigators from the prestigious patent law firm of Fish & Neave
• Pages: 19-37

19

CHAPTER 2

POLAROID IS BORN

While Land was determined to show that polaroid would be a solution

to headlight glare, he knew that it had many other potential applications.

One of Land’s friends took a scrap of the material with him when he went

fishing.1 He told Land that his casting had been more accurate than ever

before; peering through the polarizing plastic had eliminated the reflec-

tion of the sky on the surface of the stream, enabling him to see the fish

under water. Land’s polarizer could thus transform the way sunglasses

functioned—and the obvious customer for this application was American

Optical, a leading manufacturer located outside Boston.

Eastman Kodak was also interested in the potential for polaroid’s use

in sunglasses. Kodak’s Fordyce Tuttle, with whom Land had been work-

ing on the photographic filter, by this time known as Polascreen, expected

to go with Land to discuss the idea with American Optical. Even before

the deal for polarized camera filters with Eastman Kodak was finalized,

Julius Silver and Tuttle had discussed prices and quantities for sunglass

production with Kodak. But Wheelwright had contacts at American Opti-

cal that would enable Land to approach the company without any help

from Kodak, and so Land opted to go it alone.2

The eventual meeting with American Optical provided Land with a

chance to showcase his evolving ability to make dramatic and persuasive

demonstrations, a talent that, later in life, would lead to his being described

as “part thespian and part Barnum.”3 Described as “a dark-haired young

man of twenty-five who looked as though he might be interested in ten-

nis and dancing,”4 Land arranged to meet a representative of American

Optical at the Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston in late July 1934. He rented

a room on the sunny side of the hotel and arrived carrying nothing but a

goL27698_02_ch02_019-038.indd 199/17/14 11:18 AM

A Triumph of Genius

20

bowl full of goldfish. When the American Optical representative came to

the room, Land showed him the bowl, which he had placed on a window-

sill in the full glare of sunlight. “Can you see any fish?” Land asked. Of

course, the man could not—until Land held a piece of polarized material

in front of the fishbowl. The American Optical executive, who had seen

every version of sunglasses on the market, exclaimed that “he had never

seen anything like this.”5

Samples of the material were sent to American Optical for extended

tests, and, on November 5, 1935, the company signed a contract with

Land-Wheelwright for producing material required for the lenses in Pola-

roid Day Glasses.6 The laminating of polaroid to lenses proved to be more

difficult than Land had imagined, but eventually the new and revolution-

ary sunglasses hit the market in time for the holiday buying season in

1936. Advertisements touted them as “a necessity for sportsmen, motor-

ists [or] anyone who is outdoors during winter or summer. . . . [With]

Polaroid Sun Glasses you will see no glare when looking at water, sand,

snow, highly polished automobile bodies, macadam roads or any shiny

surface.”7 A pair sold for $3.75 ($64.30 in 2014 dollars).

Land also came up with a more fanciful version—adjustable sun-

glasses that allowed the wearer to regulate the degree of glare screened

out by using a pair of polarized lenses, one movable and rotating on top

of another fixed lens. While it proved to be unsuccessful in the sunglasses

market, this configuration has proven to be very useful in photography to

this day. (See Figs. 2-1 and 2-2.)

By 1935, with the Kodak and American Optical deals in place, Land-

Wheelwright was up and running. Land was now confident enough in the

performance of polaroid to be able to “realize one of . . . [his] fantasies.”

He sent a sample of the material to Robert Wood, the scientist whose early

work had so inspired him.8 Wood conducted experiments on it that con-

firmed its polarizing properties, a triumphant validation for Land.

Although Land continued to pursue other potential markets for polar-

izing material, including its use to make brighter and clearer advertising

displays, he remained focused on getting the automobile industry to adopt

the technology. He faced formidable competition from the Chubb group,

Polarized Lights, as they both aggressively pursued deals with Ford, Gen-

eral Motors, General Electric, Pittsburgh Plate Glass, Chrysler, and oth-

ers. Kodak, still interested in exploring the automobile market in concert

with a glass manufacturer, continued to talk to Chubb as well as to Land.

Chubb himself called Kodak’s Kenneth Mees in March 1935 to find out

goL27698_02_ch02_019-038.indd 209/17/14 11:18 AM