View-Master

[mckenney99]

How many of you, remember or had a View-Master?
When I was a kid, I remember getting a View-Master handed down to me. Included in the old cosmetic case was an entire library of disk packets from National Parks and other interesting places all over the U.S. that my parents and grandparents had collected on their travels. I was absolutely blown away by the incredible 3D images you could see with the View-Master. (Long before we had color tv or more than 3 b/w channels and certainly no internet.)
Also as a kid of the 60's my family participated in the yearly epoch summer vacation that my father planned down to every spare minute. On those summer vacations, I got to see some of the wonders of this great country and a few places in Canada. I always attempted to add new View-Master disk packets from those locations as a souvenir reminder. I enjoyed pulling the View-Master and those photos out over the years to remind me of those trips and the better family times. Unfortunately when I left home for college, the View-Master got left behind and I have no idea what became of it.
I was just reading a novel and the lead character mentioned having received a View-Master as a gift as a child and this brought back some very wonderful memories.

 

[swsig]

I'm old enough that I had a brand-new one in the early 1950s. I remember having a bunch of disks, but I can't recall any of the views they contained. Must have been views of Western Kansas farmland.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Yep.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

We never had one, but an Aunt-Uncle did.
Enjoyed looking at theirs.

 

[Rudi]

We had one. Advanced tech. for back then.

 

[NFrameFred]

Stereoscopes for kids. Impressive but simple effect . There are two almost identical photos, but they are each taken from a slightly different positions allowing the frames to have an overlap of usually 55 to 60%. Each eye is looking at a different photo and the brain superimposes the images to allow the viewer to see it in "3D".
Some really extreme effects can be created in theaters but those images en masse are dialed back for overall control. The extreme, more impressive adjustments cause the muscles that control the eyes to tire quickly bringing fatigue and often headaches.The motion picture process uses color sensitive shadows or ghost images to accomplish the same thing with colored lenses, hence the cheapo "glasses" required to see a 3D movie. Too tiring for my old eyes. And paying extra to get a headache doesn't appeal to me these days.

 

[Ματθιας]

I had one. I sill have some of the white disks. I found them going through some old boxes a year or so ago. I didn't find the Viewmaster though. I remember having a red and a blue one.

 

[Golddollar]

I'm old enough that I had a brand-new one in the early 1950s. I remember having a bunch of disks, but I can't recall any of the views they contained. Must have been views of Western Kansas farmland.

I got one at about the same time. I think it's around here someplace.

 

[Rpg]

I still have the View Master from my childhood along with the projector and equipment to cut and mount the film.

The family camera shot stereo photos on 35 mm film, which we’d have developed then Dad would cut and mount the cut photos in the familiar round mounts.

I’ve even got one replacement bulb. The projector takes two bulbs.

 

[Onomea]

Yep. I (we?) had one. I don't recall what the images were of — maybe national parks and such? —but do recall the disks, how one loaded and ejected them, and the lever for advancing to the next frame.

Hadn't thought of those in half a century, at least....

 

[TX-Dennis]

I remember having one as a kid. Don't know what happened to it, though.

What do you know, they still make them.

[ame]https://www.amazon.com/Basic-Fun-View-Master-Discovery-Exclusive/dp/B09P44JVVS/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3U1P1QANYSF28&keywords=viewmaster&qid=1694580958&sprefix=viewmaster%2Caps%2C148&sr=8-4[/ame]

 

[lihpster]

Of course I had one. Designed and made right here in town. One of my best friends in high school's father worked there. Had mostly Peanuts reels.

 

[RobertJ.]

My grandparents had one and I remember looking at photos of the 1962 World's Fair through it, but it relied on light from an outside source.

I was given one for Christmas when I was about eleven that took batteries and was lit up internally. You could use it when it was dark in the room.

 

[Model 15-4ever]

Wife and i were just talking about this the other day. Wish I still had mine. Remember vividly the "Wizard of Oz" series of disks. Simpler, and better, times.

 

[rwsmith]

I remember either natural wonders...

..like Old Faithful or 'futuristic' stuff like rockets, space stations and people working in space. Or maybe the Taj Mahal-type 'travelogue' slides. A lot of Disneyland stuff.

 

[rockquarry]

My ninety-six year old mother seldom throws anything away. My 1950s View Master and discs are probably in her house someplace.

 

[shovelmike]

My family had one back in the early 60's, I have no fusion of vision, thus could never see in 3D. Had a number of discs, mostly cartoon stuff for us kids.

 

[whitestang]

My sister and I shared one with most of the discs being cartoons.

 

[6518John]

There is nothing new under the sun.

I saw the modern version of the View-master yesterday. I will admit it’s like comparing one of those new Corvettes to a Model T, but it’s essentially the same thing.

Apple Vision Pro - Apple

 

[twodog max]

We had one in the 50's. I remember my older brother and I taking turns with it, and probably fighting over it, but I have no recollection of what was on the discs.
We were easily entertained back then