Polaroid Corp.

Major U.S. manufacturer of photographic equipment and supplies. The company was established as Land-Wheelwright Laboratories in 1932 by Edwin Land and George Wheelwright to produce Land's first invention, an inexpensive plastic-sheet light polarizer (&see; polarization).

By 1936 Land was using polarized material in sunglasses and other optical devices, and in 1937 the company was incorporated under the Polaroid name. After World War II Land invented the first instant camera, marketed in 1947 as the Polaroid Land camera, which delivered a finished sepia-toned print 60 seconds after exposure. The company introduced colour film for its Polaroid cameras in the 1960s and instant motion pictures in 1977. Other Polaroid products include film, digital cameras, and identification systems.