The View-Master Never Left Us
By James Grahame
I received Blue Rodeo's In Stereovision DVD for Christmas last year. When I opened the package, I discovered a View-Master 3D reel inside. I hadn't held one for years. Each reel holds 14 little slides (seven stereo sets). When you look through the eyepieces of the viewer, you see a 3-D image. The View-Master was originally developed in the late 1930s by Sawyer's, a postcard manufacturer. They saw the immense potential of 3D souvenirs. One could even buy View-Master cameras which captured stereo images on standard 35mm film.
There are several companies that will make custom reels for you, although they tend to be a bit pricey -- Studio 3D can make one-off reels, but they cost $48 each (dropping to $3.88 in quantities of 5000). The picture is of Fisher-Price's $16 View-Master Projector, by the way. [Fisher Price® is a registered trademark of Mattel, Inc.]
