PolaPulse Squeeze Light Flashlight Flashlight

Eager to find new uses for existing instant photography technology and diversifying their product offerings in response to the increasing acceptance of digital photography, Polaroid developed the Pola Pulse. This disposable flashlight used zinc carbon battery technology from the early 1970s. The same technology was also used in Polaroid’s instant camera packs. The thin Pola Pulse flashlight was designed to shed light over a five-foot area and was intended to be a convenient way to illuminate, at close range, objects such as a car door keyhole. The flashlight was designed to be operated with one hand, and sized to fit into a shirt pocket, car glove compartment, purse, or backpack. Although the battery has a life of about five years, Polaroid did not design the housing to open so consumers could replace the battery. Instead, the owner was to dispose of the entire flashlight and simply purchase another.
The museum actively collects in the area of personal electronic devices. The collection includes an impressive group of flashlights, many of which were on display in the museum’s exhibition, IDEO Selects: Works from the Permanent Collection. This flashlight is part of a group of electronics from the 1980s and 1990s proposed for acquisition that would augment the collection’s consumer product design category from this era.

PolaPulse Squeeze Light Flashlight Flashlight; Manufactured by Polaroid Corporation (United States); plastic, halogen bulb; Gift of Max Pine and Lois Mander; 2008-9-10