Loved seeing the miniatures. I interviewed a couple of the model makers (Martha Hand and Wah Chang) years ago--she had a great behind-scenes photo (which you probably also have) from the 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA reels) that I was able to copy. We helped the 3-D photographer who shot the pix for the 1980 film, BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS which featured a lot of our model and set work. Fun time setting those up for him. Are there any photos of the set-ups on the TOM CORBETT, the ANIMAL WORLD and/or SAM SAWYER ADVENTURE reels? A shame the ones I have from the 70's have all turned red, even though I had never even opened some of them until recently. That dinosaur one had some of the most imaginative use of color of any of the View masters...now gone into faded redness. Thanks for the video history. Fun to see after all these years!
Impressive presentation xxx The worst thing you can do with a Viewmaster is letting the advance lever snap back. It can crack the case and the images don't align. Treat it with respect.
The Talking Viewnasters worked just fine (for what they were, and the intended market: kits) and were NOT quickly discontinued. They appeared in Sears Christmas catalogs from 1970 to at least 1984. They improved it in 1975, and then made a new, incompatible version in the 1980s. You obviously don't know your Viewmaster history.
This is GREAT! Thank for sharing this! I've been researching the story of View-Master for some time. An aspect I haven't found that much information on is the reel projectors, both mono and stereo.
What a great story. I am just getting into 3d. I love the fact that there is now a company that will produce your own images as Viewmaster reels at image3d.com
Chuck brought it into the new era with his re-design in the late 50s. His model G is the one chosen for the permanent collection at MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York City.
