A Veritable View-Master Voyage Quiz

Answer: New York World's Fair (1939)

The patent for View-Master was not issued until 1940, so the viewers introduced at the 1939 New York World's Fair were marked "Patent Applied For". The viewers were priced at $1.50 and reels were sold individually for .35 cents each. In 2011, these prices adjusted for inflation translate into $23.88 per viewer and $5.57 per reel. Considering that a basic viewer in 2011 is priced at $6.00 and sets of 3 reels are $4.00 when ordered from the current manufacturer (Fisher-Price division of Mattel, Inc.) View-Master products are an even better value today than they were in 1939. Specifically, in 2011 a viewer and 3 reels costs $10.00, but in 1939 the same items would have cost an individual the equivalent of $40.59 (adjusted for inflation in 2011 dollars).


Specific References:

usinflationcalculator.com. "US Inflation Calculator"

Fisher-price.com. "View-Master"

1939nyworldsfair.com. "View Master Reels"

Answer: Scenic Attractions

William Gruber was an organ maker by trade, but an avid photographer on the side. During a vacation in the late 1930s Gruber became acquainted with Harold Graves of Sawyer's Photo Services, which mainly produced souvenirs (e.g., scenic postcards and album sets) at the time. In 1939, the pair formed a partnership based on their invention of the View-Master viewer and reels. Given the circumstances under which the pair met and the products that Sawyer's was manufacturing at the time it is not surprising that the first View-Master reels featured scenic images of the Grand Canyon and the Carlsbad Caverns.

As an aside, even though brand name recognition was high (65%) for "View-Master", Gruber disliked the name finding it a bit too reminiscent of such kitchen appliances as Mix-Master, Toast-Master, etc.


Specific Reference:

1939nyworldsfair.com. "View Master Reels"

Answer: Travel postcards

View-Master's initially targeted audience was not so much children, but adults that traveled or were interested in travel. Therefore, View-Master products were not originally offered in toy shops, but scenic attraction gift shops, photography stores, and stationers.

Answer: Personnel training

From 1942 to the end of World War II (1945) View-Master supplied the United States military with 100,000 viewers and millions of reels that covered topics, such as, training in ordnance recognition (e.g., German, Japanese, and Russian aircraft) and range estimation.

View-Master products have not been only useful in war, but also in peacetime. For example, in 1962, William Gruber of Sawyer's collaborated with a professional anatomist and dissectionist, David L. Bassett, to produce a 25 volume human anatomy atlas incorporating the View-Master system.


Specific Reference:

3dstereo.com. "View-Master-Military Reels"

Answer: Walt Disney Studios

After acquiring Tru-Vue, Sawyer's was able to greatly expand the diversity of reels offered by featuring popular Disney characters and stories. The opening of Disneyland was a further boon for business as Sawyer's also produced reels showcasing the cutting edge amusement park.

Answer: A personal stereo camera

Introduced by Sawyer's in 1952, the View-Master Personal line included a 35-mm personal stereo camera, Model D viewer, and Stereomatic 500 3-D projector. These cameras and viewers are considered to be among the highest quality items ever produced by View-Master and many are still in use. The projector remains unique in that it is the only 3-D projector ever produced by View-Master. Despite initial enthusiasm for View-Master Personal line products, public interest eventually tapered off and manufacturing shutdown at the end of a ten year run.


Specific Reference:

Wikipedia. "View-Master Personal Stereo Camera"

Answer: Internal lighting

To make viewing reels even easier, C-cell batteries were used to power the internal lighting source of Model F viewers. Who knows how many cases of whiplash and neckaches may have been averted by people no longer having to crane their necks to glean that last little bit of light whilst in dimly lit viewing situations!

Answer: Cartoons and toys

The talking viewer and focus on producing child oriented reel sets were not the only changes made to the View-Master line during GAF's tenure. In 1977, GAF began manufacturing reels that incorporated their own film line, which was of an inferior quality in comparison to that traditionally used.

In fact, the GAF film degraded over time and images developed a reddish tint, which has been evermore a bane to View-Master collectors.

Answer: All of the choices are correct

These gift sets designed for children have been quite popular, but it appears that the company has realized that there is an even larger audience to be reached. In 2011, the Fisher-Price division of Mattel, Inc. announced that it will resume manufacture of scenic attraction reels. Also, that the reels will be packaged in envelopes with descriptive booklets (rather than nondescript blister packs) just as they were when manufactured by Sawyer's and up to the last year of GAF's ownership. Developed in 1980, by GAF View-Master's European branch, the blister pack was a card with the reels held to it in a clear plastic disk. The pack had no informative booklet and some didn't even list the contents of the reels in the pack. This return to basics heralds a new age for View-Master and hopefully a rebirth of a more educational range of reels and a deeper understanding of the content of those reels.


Specific Reference:

3Dstereo.com. "Gift Sets"

3Dstereo.com. "The View-Master Ultimate Reel List"

Answer: Reel size and shape

Despite over 1.5 billion reels being produced, the initial design of the reels has remained consistent, which makes it possible for any reel ever manufactured by View-Master to be viewed in any of its viewers made at any time. Another viewer element that has remained unchanged is the internal mechanism, which serves to rotate the reel. It's pretty amazing that the first View-Master viewer made in 1939 could be used to view reels 72 years later of Expo 2012/Yeosu, South Korea.