Viewfinder & Reels - "View-Master"

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1939

Subcollections

Overview

Item 1: Plastic viewfinder with two windows of glass to view the reels. There is a 95mm slot at the top to insert the reel.
Item 2: Five round 'reels' protected in their own square paper cover. Reels are made of thin cardboard disks that contain a stack of small coloured miniature, reversed images. Each reel typically holds 14 film transparencies in seven pairs, which create the stereoscopic images.
Item 3: Original cardboard box.

Historical information

Originally introduced in 1939, it was designed to provide a three-dimensional viewing experience, making it popular for both entertainment and educational purposes, for children and adults.
A View-Master reel holds 14 film transparencies in seven pairs that create the seven stereoscopic images. The components of each pair are viewed simultaneously, one by each eye, thus simulating binocular depth perception through a device called a "View-Master" (or stereoscope).

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-124-2026.029

Item type

Themes

Leisure > Toys

Material

Width

90 mm

Inscriptions and markings

Item 1:
"View-master. Made in Australia. Sawyer's (Inc ) Australia Pty Ltd"

Item 2:
Front of each cover reads "one view-master reel. 7 three dimension full colour pictures"
(a) Reel features places of interest at "Victoria Falls, Southern Rhodesia, Africa. Made in Australia'
(b) Reel features places of interest at "Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA. Made in Australia"
(c) Reel features places of interest in "London, England. Made in Portland, Oregon, USA"
(d) Reel features the story of "Little Red Riding Hood. Made in Australia"
(e) Reel features the story "Tulip Time, Holland. Made in Australia"

Item 3:
"3Dimension Viewer. Model E. View Master. Sawyer's (Inc) Australia Pty Limited. Made in Sydney, Australia"

Contextual information

A View-Master is a line of stereoscopes that allows users to view stereoscopic 3-D images. It consists of a plastic binocular-like device that uses circular slide reels containing pairs of small transparent color photographs.

Keywords

Viewer

Reel

Place made

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Year

1939

Primary significance criteria

Artistic or aesthetic significance

Social or spiritual significance

Last modified

Tuesday, 10 February, 2026