Kennedy’s personally-owned vintage Polaroid Land Automatic 100 folding rangefinder camera, serial number AA312597. Camera measures approximately 7.5 x 6 x 6 and features a folding bellows, metal body, adjustable film speed settings, and hinged viewfinder assembly. A leather strap is also attached to the top. In fine cosmetic condition; working condition unknown. Provenance: The Estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Sotheby’s, April 1996. Item is accompanied by the bidder’s paddle and ticket to the Sotheby’s auction, as well as the catalog addendum in which the lot was offered. An innovative and iconic American product, this camera was the first mass-produced camera to feature an electronic shutter, as well as the first Polaroid camera to use pack film. It was also only produced from 1963 to 1966, dating this camera either to JFK’s presidency or shortly thereafter. Jackie’s affinity for photography was well-known, and her first job out of college was as the ‘Inquiring Photographer’ for the Washington Times-Herald, a position in which she posed questions to and photographed random passersby. RR Auction COA.
