The White Cafe: The World Through View-Master

Aside from my fluctuating collection of clothes and books from thrift stores and yard sales, I collect View-Master 3-D stereoscopic reels. I own two original black Bakelite View-Master viewers and have collected many reels over the years at flea markets. They don't turn up very often, but recently Tristan, at the Fun Box Monster Emporium, had an influx of reels. Needless to say I expanded my collection. Wanting to share some of my favorite images, I discovered I could take pictures of them with my digital camera by holding the zoomed lens up to one of the eye-holes and holding the viewer and camera very still while aimed at the light.

The View-Master was invented by organist and photographer William Gruber, who lived in Portland, Oregon, and was introduced to the world at the 1939 New York World's Fair. It was a huge hit and billions of reels were produced. Over time, the reels devolved into mostly kid's cartoons. Some of the ones using real stages and puppets are interesting, but I favor the original ones, mostly produced throughout the 1940s and 1950s, devoted to capturing scenes around the globe.

There are a spew of sites devoted to the View-Master, and Stereo Cameras (so you can make your own reels!) There is even a site that will make custom stereoscopic reels from your won digital images. The View-Master is very retro these days, with only a handful of reels now being produced by Fisher-Price. But 3-D technology remains popular. There are even a few artists such as Roger Ferragallo and Jack Bice who use stereoscopic imagery as their medium.

Here are some favorite images from my collection, taken with my Canon Powershot of the original images.