View Master Viewer or also known as stereo viewers was the rage at one time. I remember having one as a kid in the 80’s. Red color if I am not mistaken. That's the issue isn’t it? We all have toys that we adored as kids but never really looked after it or appreciated it and over time they were either lost, became damaged or was simply given away. In our adulthood, we tend to look back for those items to relive our childhood.
Mine was View Master Viewer, Rubik’s Cube, Kenner Star Wars, Master Mind by Invicta Games, White Stone Marble, (Guli Batu Putih), Pick Up Sticks, Snake and Ladder, Sepak Bulu Ayam and etc. All from a bygone era.
Hence, whenever I get the chance to own a piece of my past I grab it. Such is the story with this View Master Viewer. I managed to purchase this Model C in mint condition, produced between 1946 and 1955. It was made from bakelite (an early form of plastic).
Model C was the first viewer to have a slot into which the reels were placed for viewing. The viewer was very robustly constructed and many survive to this day. Always get a unit with the outlined patent information block as they command a considerably higher price.
The Model C originally retailed for US $2.00.
View-Master was introduced at the New York World's Fair (marked "Patent Applied For") in 1939. The first View-Master in the late 1930's was not meant as a child’s toy. A Portland, Oregon, organ-maker and photographer named William Gruber was fascinated with a Victorian optical device known as a stereoscope, which created an illusion of 3D using two side by side photographs. Gruber had the idea to mass-produce a portable stereoscope, using new Kodachrome color film, which could be held in one’s hands.
The Model C that I purchased is still in mint condition. Even the box has no ripples or damages
Still intact with the original plastic wrap
The patent information block is clearly visible in the bottom. This it one of the classic black View-Master Model C viewers produced by Sawyer’s from 1946-1955. It carries the raised Sawyer’s script and View-Master name in block letters, as well as both the U.S. and Canadian patent numbers, underneath which it says “Other Pat. Pend., Made in U.S.A., Portland-Ore.”
It’s made of black Bakelite with an aluminum advance lever on the side and has the “stair step” eyepiece design
Instructions to attach a light
View-Master was initially intended as an alternative to the scenic postcard, and was originally sold at photography shops, stationery stores, and scenic-attraction gift shops. The main subjects of View-Master reels were Carlsbad Caverns, Grand Canyon and other scenic view. Subsequently, the reels became more interesting, such as Doctor Who, Star Trek, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Here's Lucy, Mork & Mindy, The Beverly Hillbillies and etc.
However, the most current View Master reels are intended for children. My! How times have changed. Fisher-Price, a division of toy maker Mattel subsequently bought the rights to View Master. A different brand of View Master I bought for my kids, sold under by National Geography
Basic shape is still maintained and construction is from a different form of plastic making it much lighter
Like all things now days, made in China
Another View Master in collection, made in Belgium
As you can see there is no patent information contained. Hence, this commands a lower value from my Model C above
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