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Glam Fame Journal

What was the first view-master reel?

Author

Matthew Perez

Updated on March 10, 2026

What was the first view-master reel?

After some test marketing in the Portland area in late 1939, the Sawyer’s View-Master was officially introduced to the public in 1940 at the New York World’s Fair and at the Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco. Viewers sold for $1.50 and individual reels sold for 35 cents each.

How many View-Master reels are there?

one billion View-Master reels
The View-Master Ultimate Reel List. More than one billion View-Master reels have been issued since this unique stereophotographic format was invented and first commercially released in 1939.

Are Viewmaster reels still made?

Both editions of the View-Master VR were discontinued in November 2019, and the Experience packs can no longer be installed by new users.

What are View-Master reels?

What is this? Each View-Master reel is durable, treated paper disk in which are mounted seven stereoscopic sets of full-color, transparent, Kodachrome pictures. When seen through the View-Master stereoscope, these sets appear as seven realistic three-dimension pictures.

What came before View-Master?

In 1931, prior to the View-Master, the company Tru-Vue released black and white stereoscopic filmstrips, each of which had 14 pictures on them that passed through the little viewer horizontally.

When was the View-Master invented?

1939
Invented, manufactured, and sold by Sawyer’s Photo Services in the United States (a company specializing in scenic postcards, slides, and slide projectors), the contraption debuted at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York.

Who invented the View-Master?

Invented by William Gruber and marketed by Harold Graves through Edwin and Fred Mayer’s photo-finishing, postcard, and greeting card company, Sawyer’s, View-Master was a successor to the stereograph viewer popularized in the 19th century by Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Who makes View-Master?

Mattel’s venerable View-Master, the stereoscopic photo viewer so familiar to kids, is now using Google Cardboard Virtual Reality technology to bring life to those old 3D images.

What did the View-Master do?

The View-Master is a vintage tool that presents three-dimensional images. Although the stereoscope had been the chosen source for viewing images for learning and entertainment for decades, the invention of the View-Master meant that people put their stereoscopes aside in favor of a newer form of virtual reality.

Who owns View-Master?

The View-Master name lives on and is currently being produced under the Fisher-Price brand name (a Mattel owned company). Who knows what the future holds, but from it’s beginnings in 1938, few could have expected the name to still be alive and well over sixty years later.

Did Charles Harrison invent the View-Master?

Charles Harrison, (born September 23, 1931, Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S.—died November 29, 2018, Santa Clarita, California), American industrial designer whose creations included such iconic consumer items as polypropylene trash cans (including those with wheels) and the plastic version of the 3-D View-Master …

Where is the View-Master made?

The View-Master stereoscopic slide viewer has been a popular children’s toy since the 1950s. For nearly half a century, View-Masters were made exclusively at a factory located on Hall Boulevard in Beaverton, Oregon.