Polaroid Swinger: changing the market in an instant

New York

FIFTY years ago this month, Polaroid introduced the first low-priced, mass-market "instant" camera, the Swinger. "It's almost alive!" went the catchy jingle in the TV spot starring the then-unknown Ali MacGraw. "It's only nineteen dollars and ninety-five."

The Swinger is notable for its foreshadowing of modern technology such as the Apple iPhone and other hand-held devices that let people capture images and share them right away.