Polaroids and other Instant Cameras
They don't make lasting images even though they were cheap at the time and instant.
Sometimes age cracks them and they lose their color as well.
These are some of Tom when he was little. He's a bit over 30 now so you can guess at how old each photo is.
Ohio before he started school.
We were on a road trip from Ohio to New York. That's why the car is a mess. We stopped here at a rest stop in New York to clean it out. Yes its messy. I didn't care then and I don't now. I just wanted to get where we were going safely.
This was in Ohio. He was either in kindergarten or first grade. It and the second one down were taken with a polaroid sure shot I think it was called. Often your photos didn't "develop" or faded afterwards. You had to be careful where you touched them. If it was too cold when you took them you had to put them under your armpit to warm them up enough to develop them. But it was new and people bought them because you saw your image right then and it was fun. It was also a terrible waste.