The 3D World and Me... (View-master and Vistascreen) |
|
Ever since I got a View-master viewer as a child I've been fascinated by 3D images- that's where your eyes read two seperate pictures simultaneously and trick your brain into creating a three dimensional image with depth. It's kind of like looking into a little box which holds an alternative world. In the past few years I've become increasingly fascinated by them- and have built up a collection which I'd like to share with you... |
|
View-master was invented sometime in the 40's after the second world war by a company called Sawyers. Previous to the View-master, stereo images (as they are known) were viewed as standard postcard-like photos through a "stereoscope"- which meant that for each picture a separate card had to be put in the machine. In comparison the View-master was an extraordinarily sophisticated piece of technology. The pictures came in the form of 14 high quality colour transparencies, the images were perfectly in alignment and were changed by pushing a lever. This is one of my oldest reels... |
|
It's a bit tatty, isn't it? It's a set of pictures of Crater Lake, and was number 21. The earliest, view-master reels have this strange "hand written" look. A lot of my favourite reels come in packets like this, as for many years they were packaged without the fancy booklets and folders, and came in these simple envelopes. Two of my favourite reels are the "London" reels (1001 & 1002)- they both show an extraordinarily grimy post war London, Bow Church viewed from a bomb-site, a blackened National Gallery, a half-empty Piccadilly Circus. As an experiment I tried to scan in the picture of Tower Bridge- I assure you it's not quite as gloomy as this! |
|
During the fifties the two biggest genres for View-master were travelogues and children's reels. The Children's reels don't interest me much, they're usually plaster models acting out fairy tales and bible stories, and are frankly a bit dull. The travelogues on the other hand are great- lots of amazing mountainous landscapes and yawning chasms, usually with a girl in a red coat in the foreground to emphasise the 3D. Alternatively they were portraits of cities, with lots of emphasis on modern futuristic skyscrapers, municipal sculptures and the obligatory night shots of illuminated office blocks. Most of these came in colourful envelopes with informative booklets. They were all edited by one Lowell Thomas whose image appears on the reverse, looking like a slightly less debonaire Clark Gable. Here are a few... |
|
|
|
I particularly like the Mount Rushmore appearing like a genie from "Old Faithful" Geyser! This series is on particularly good form when exploring the natural world- the "Wonders of the Deep" set is a classic- the viewer finds himself amongst shimmering jellyfish and menacing sharks all depicted in aquatic shades of blue and green. A peculiar obsession with the series is caverns and caves- the best of which is the Caverns of Luray- which was of particular interest to me because I have a 7" EP recorded in there by the wonderfully named Leyland W Sprinkle playing an organ made of scalactites- The famous Stalacpipe Organ. |
|
|
When we get to the sixties we get to the point when I was introduced to View-master in the first place- the growth of television has taken the shine off them a bit (although they did try to fight back with the "Talking Viewmaster" in the '70's).But TV also gave them the opportunity to cash in on programmes- my first was "Thunderbirds", later followed by "UFO" (and now I have "Land of the Giants", "Black Beauty" and "Mission Impossible"). The brand was taken over by GAF, the booklets became smarter and less likely to fall to pieces, but by the 70's it was the end of the cool View-master really. They're still going, (made by Fisher-Price now) but is marketed purely as a children's toy- with Disney well to the fore and the travelogues gone. Here's the first View-master set I got (a Christmas present aged about 9 or 10). Notable mainly for the amount of pictures of aeroplane nose-cones poking your eyes out... |
|
The British Version Britain in the 60's had a go at trying to update the stereoscope too- but it was nowhere near as innovative as the View-master. In fact it was very British and a bit naff. It was a Stereoscope which tooks cards, but it folded up and was made of plastic; The wonderful "Vistascreen"... |
|
The cards slotted in the back. They came in packs of 10 that were sold at various tourist destinations. Bafflingly the cards are mainly in black and white, somewhat reducing the realistic nature of the 3D. |
|
|
In the early 60's Weetabix (the breakfast cereal) joined forces with Vistascreen, although it doesn't seem to have saved it from becoming obsolete before the mid-sixties. Cereal eaters could send off for a viewer and cards (animals and cars) which came free in the packets. This viewer belonged to B. Shanks, who, it occurs to me, is probably in his 50's at least by now... |
|
And here's one of the Weetabix cards- the colour is somewhat garish and the quality of the photo so grainy that it actually feels like a "Ladybird Book" illustration that you could step into... which of course is the secret of the appeal... |
|
|
Richard Sanderson Dec 2004 For more information about View-master the best site I've found is www.viewmaster.co.uk which also covers the many alternatives and rip-offs. Many fabulous pictures. View-master is remarkably cheap to collect (try eBay- most reels go for under £2, often 99p, and viewers are easy to get for under a fiver (80's models). |
