Welcome to the World of View-Master
Steeped in nostalgia…durable and mass produced... readily available and reasonably priced...not to mention small and easy to store. View-Master viewers and reels just might be the perfect collectible. So how did this simple, yet enduring source of entertainment get it’s start?
The story of the View-master begins in the woods of Oregon in 1938. Harold Graves, President of Sawyer’s Photographic Services, was taking wildlife pictures when he happened upon William Gruber. Gruber was shooting pictures with a device he had invented that had two cameras strapped together on one tripod. Earlier he had though of an amazing idea…to make what would be the world’s first 3D viewer in color. Graves and Gruber would quickly form a partnership…. and the View-Master was born.
Now the View-master was not the first 3D viewer. Stereoscopes, which is what a View-master basically is, were invented in the 1800’s where they were a very popular form of parlor entertainment. Below is a stereoscope probably from the early 1900’s. They were a hand-held device, made out of wood and metal, that you look through at a card that had two side-by-side, mostly black and white images on it. To change pictures , you would have to remove the card from the viewer and replace it one at a time.
View-master changed all that. No more black and white pictures viewed one at a time. The pictures were in color due ti then using the newly released Kodachrome transparent film from Kodak. Each View-Master reel had seven different images on it. And to change…all you had to do was push down the lever.
The world got it’s first look at the amazing View-master during the 1939 World Fair in New York City and the 1940 Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco...where it was sold as a souvenir.
In World War II the U.S. Military saw an opportunity to use this new educational tool to train G.I’s. The reel below was used by the Bureau of Naval Personnel to train servicemen on how to identify how far an enemy ship was and at what angle they would have to shoot to destroy the target.
The reels were originally sold as singles. In the early 1950’s Sawyer’s began grouping them into three packs. Consisting of three reels... A cool sixteen page booklet... and a catalog so you could plan your next purchase. In the early1980’s View-master stopped packaging the reels in three packs with the booklet and instead started selling them in blister packs.
The View-Master wasn’t originally intended to be a toy. They were alternatives to postcards. The early topics were scenic shots from national parks and travel destinations all over the world. These reels were often sold as souvenirs. So when did View-Master become a toy? That probably happened in the late 40’s when Sawyer’s expanded from producing scenic reels for adults and started making reels specifically for kids.
In 1951 Sawyer’s bought out Tru-Vue, their biggest competitor. This is important because with the purchase of Tru-Vue, came their lucrative licensing deal with Disney. Giving Sawyer’s the rights to produce View-Master reels featuring all the popular Disney animated characters, television shows, theme parks and films.
Over the years cartoons and TV shows continued to be popular subjects for their reels. If it was part of pop culture... View-master produced it.
Over the years the View-Master Brand has been owned by a number of companies over time. As stated previously, lt started with Sawyer’s Photographic Services who owned View-Master until late 1966. That year it was purchased by GAF which stands for General Aniline & Film Corporation. That is the company that I associate the reels and viewers from my childhood. In 1981 View-Master was sold to Arnold Thaler and renamed View-Master International Group. Three years later in 1984, they merged with the “Ideal” Toy Company, makers of one of my favorite toys ever: The Evel Kneivel Stunt Cycle. In 1989 they were bought out by Tyco... famous for their model trains. Tyco owned them until 1997 when Matte gobbled them up and continued to produce View-Masters under the Fisher Price name.
Today the Mattel View-master has morphed into a virtual reality viewer that used apps on your phone. But don’t worry, you can still buy the good old fashion version.
The great thing for anyone interested in collecting View-Master viewers and reels is that there are a lot of them out there and for the most part they are very reasonably priced. Man of the old versions were made out of Bakelite. Which means they are very durable and easy to find. The wonderful world of View-Master, hours of entertainment and all you need is light.
To learn more about View-Master and to see some great examples check out the video below.
