The View-Master is a device that allows a user to view stereoscopic (‘3D’) images. It was introduced in 1939 and reached the peak of popularity in the 1960s. The viewer above is a modern version I bought maybe a decade ago, and is essentially identical technology to the original release. Over the years there have been dozens of different models but they all work the same way: each eye views a slightly different image from a circular reel, and this creates a 3D picture when they are viewed simultaneously.
I’ve got a motley collection of reels, some new and some old but since the technology has never changed they still work in modern viewers. The majority of reel sets – especially before the 1970s – are pictorial views of tourist sights in various countries and US states, and the reels were often sold in souvenir shops as a sort of 3D scenic postcard.
The above are from the mid 1970s, and are typical of the sorts of sets based on TV and movies that made the viewer popular amongst children during that decade and gave View Master a sort of ‘second wind’. Each set comes with three reels showing pictures from a single episode of the tv show, and a booklet describing the story of the episode.
That’s the Happy Days cover and pages from the Six Million Dollar Man book. The writing is fairly advanced; I imagine parents would read these to kids as they viewed the scenes from the show through the viewer.
I tried to take photos of the images on the reels as best I could, and the above show some examples.
It’s subtle and hard to see the difference between the left/right images when viewed separately. Can you see in the photos above that the sakura branches are in slightly different positions with respect to Fuji? When these two are viewed simultaneously through the viewer the 3D effect is striking, and the blossoms seem to float close to you with Fuji far away in the distance.
Disappointingly some of the newer reels – including all the examples that came with the viewer when I bought it – are not in 3D. The best feature of the View-Master isn’t even used!
Some of the older sets I own include this order form, which is itself quaint today since it reminds us of buying things ‘mail order’ before the internet. The prices – circa 1974 – are absurdly cheap, and the selection of available reel sets is massive with a focus on the tourist examples.
Interestingly no one really knows how many reels exist. View-Master never kept a master list, and there are many unlicensed releases. The list would include the many reels made for non-commercial use, such as a series for the US military so soldiers in WW2 could identify planes, or training reels for corporations, or even reels used in restaurants in place of picture menus! It is known there are more than 4300 different series though, which suggests over 10,000 or more unique reels! These days you can even have custom reels made, and a friend did just that using wedding photos as souvenirs for his guests.
Some reels and viewers have value today, and some sets (usually based on sci-fi or fantasy properties) can reach many hundreds of dollars on the secondary market. But when I see reels in antique stores they’re almost always the scenic tourist types and rarely priced at more than a few dollars, which is where I got the small collection I have today. It’s a fun nostalgic item, and even today the 3D images look as impressive as they did back when I was a little boy 🙂
