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View-Master
- Thread starter mckenney99
- Start date
We got one for Christmas one year, and got new sets of pictures every year for various Holiday's or birthdays.
We never had a Viewmaster when I was growing up. After I got married my wife’s uncle had one and we looked at lots of pictures he had made into slides. There were some pictures of National Parks also.
Mattel says they envision a bright future.
I really enjoyed them, we had the battery powered one first. Had national parks, dinosaurs, and some cartoons. Eventually something broke in it and got the ones that you just held toward a light source. I still have some boxed up stuff from mom that I haven't gone through, might still have one in that stuff........... If I do find one in there I will have to sit down and go through the reels again to relive a bit of my past!
Weren't the slide cards........
.... in the first viewmasters long and rectangular and moved up as you clicked them??
My wife reminded me we both had Give-A-Show projectors (It's Kenner, It's fun...AARHK!!) with the slide cards that went sideways.
.... in the first viewmasters long and rectangular and moved up as you clicked them??
My wife reminded me we both had Give-A-Show projectors (It's Kenner, It's fun...AARHK!!) with the slide cards that went sideways.
The ones made before 1962 were Bakelite.
Me and some co-workers were just talking about these this week. I couldn't think of the name until we googled it. My brothers and I got one for Christmas one year, probably around 73. Ours was just cheap red plastic. We thought it was pretty cool at the time. I think ours had disks with pictures of dinosaurs. Life was so much simpler then.
DWalt
Member
Long ago, I worked in a large camera shop that sold View Master viewers. We also had a huge selection of discs of various subjects such as national parks, animals, plants, travel destinations (like the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, etc.) about anything anywhere in the world you might like to see. We also sold the 3-D cameras so you could make your own stereo slides. I think the discs were about 50 cents each. Which wasn't exactly cheap at the time.
I imagine you can still find about all of the viewers and discs you would ever want on eBay. I knew there were View Master projectors but I don't remember seeing one. Seems like thei View Master products maker was a company called Sawyers.
I imagine you can still find about all of the viewers and discs you would ever want on eBay. I knew there were View Master projectors but I don't remember seeing one. Seems like thei View Master products maker was a company called Sawyers.
Last edited:
OP
mckenney99
Member
The ones made before 1962 were Bakelite.
Rusty,
That is exactly like the model I remember having, coloration and all. It had a little bit of weight to it and you had to point it at a light source to view the images. Mine was a hand-me-down from my grandparents if I remember correctly so I have no idea how old it was when I received it.
We had one of the bakelite models when I was a kid. We had the national park discs, some cartoons, and a few of scenes from Disneyland. Back then I thought Disneyland must be the most special place in the world.
The Last Standing Knight
Member
A company called GAF used to make them. They ultimately ended up in the hands of Mattel and are still being made today. I haven't seen one is many, many years.
Mine fell apart years ago, but have a bunch of disks somewhere including some made from Matthew Brady's Civil War photos...to say those were creepy were an understatement and they were not redacted for sensitive people as they would be these days.
Mine fell apart years ago, but have a bunch of disks somewhere including some made from Matthew Brady's Civil War photos...to say those were creepy were an understatement and they were not redacted for sensitive people as they would be these days.
squid8286
Member
I still have one (along with about 20 of the round stereo slides) somewhere around the house. It was a very "played with" item growing up in the 60s and 70s. The slides were old Walt Disney, Beverly Hillbillies, and the Apollo space program. At some point, it was repaired with some plastic model cement, as it was coming apart at the seam. I guess it's fortunate that I am a pack rat. I think I got it around my 3rd Christmas, which was in 1967. That is an educated guess, however.
DWalt
Member
There is a complete history on Wikipedia. The original manufacturer was Sawyer's. Introduced at the N.Y. World's Fair in 1939.
