I had view masters as a kid and loved them…tonight I was able to see some view master slides in a view master projector with a screen. I always wanted one as a kid but never could get it. I had the “click” model you held in your hand.
A few months ago…my cousin Mark came over. He and I collect things from the 50s-70s. Mark has been collecting View-Masters and the round slides. He shopped on Market Place and found someone with a 1950s View-Master projector. The projector is very clear.
All of us (wife, son, Mark, and myself) spent over an hour watching the view-master slides on a screen that he bought from different people.
Of course, the slides are not 3-D when projected but it still was really cool. We saw Busch Gardens, Silver Dollar City, Acapulco, Sequoia, Kings National Park (I think), and some other places. It was like stepping back in time to the 60s or 70s which I guess was the idea. All the pictures came from the 50s through the 70s.
As a kid, I would spend hours clicking the round slide over and over. For some reason, I remember an outer space slide selection I had. The 3-D made it look like you could touch it. When my son was around 5 we got him one and he loved it. I would recommend picking one up if you see one somewhere…no matter how old you are…they are still fun!
The View-Master was based on the stereoscopic viewer, which dates all the way back to the 1800s.
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I remember loving mine!
Memories! I had that exact red one!
Looking through one today sends me back.
Great post! There was a university that used to send a VM to high school counselors and students could look at pics of the campus.
Thank you! They were the Virtual Headsets of the past.
Oh man, so cool. We also had one of these in my house back in Germany – in cool plastic and baby blue, if I recall it correctly! 🙂
They are a lot of fun… I still enjoy them lol.
Wow what a flashback. I had a veiwmaster which came with a bunch of Disney slides and so I had to take my allowance and buy the slides for KISS which would come as no shock as they had there own line of Viewmaster slides…wish I still had em…
KISS had their own? That doesn’t surprise me thinking about it. They had all the bases covered at that time.
here ya go….https://youtu.be/usJeO3xS9dc
Gene don’t miss a trick! Actually this IS really cool I have to admit.
Loved these as a kid. Especially remember a Stingray one; a Popeye one and a Huckleberry Hound one. 🙂
I still love them. A good many of my reels from childhood have gone missing (among them the very Winnie-the-Pooh that you show), but I have as many as my mom could find and send to me, along with some modern ones. They’re just delightful.
I couldn’t believe how much I enjoyed it… and we have done it again since. It takes me back.
Oh man, yeah! I loved that thing. I had a red one too, and lots of the slide discs- some were travel ones , like Rocky Mountains, Everglades etc and some were cartoons… I think I had one of Under dog for example. I saw somewhere online a few years ago that still market them and would make a custom disc for you if you submit photos. I might look into that.
Cool Dave! You know I had this written for a while and I didn’t think anyone would like it…I guess I should have known everyone had one!
It takes me back to childhood and I STILL enjoy it!
oh yeah, I think most of us are in the age range that we would remember them and who didn’t think they were the coolest thing back then? they’re up there with my Hot Wheels and Lego as the toys from my childhood I remember most fondly.
It was pretty cool and still are to a degree. I would get lost in them as a kid…objects looked so real you would want to grab them.
Oh, yeah. Barbie, Adam-12 & Peanuts. I wonder what happened to mine. I suspect my mother tossed it with a lot of other childhood toys & books. Do you remember the stuffed dolls released by Hardees, Burger King & McDonalds? Ronald McDonald, Hamburgler, the King…I had those and she tossed them.
Well if you wanna come down…you can see Mark’s collection! Vic…I have to say they STILL seem cool…I like them better than the Virtual Headsets I have lol
I might do that!
That would be cool! Whenever he finds more he gets them. I love the real places like Silver Dollar City etc.
I definitely remember these and enjoying looking through them but cannot remember any of the subjects. So very awesome your cousin found the projector and you all were able to watch the show together. The 3D aspect of them felt like magic as a kid.
They were the virtual headsets of our era…
I never had one, but I’ve used them. For ’60’s technology they were pretty good.
Yea looking at the real 3D places of the time was really cool.
On my list of things that should exist but (seemingly) do not, a book of original view-master slides
I totally agree!
I loved my VM as a kid. I remember having quite a few different slides. I had Batman, Snoopy, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and various cartoon characters. I loved looking at those. I saw one on Amazon recently and may be getting one for my kids
I know…I’m going to start looking for the old slides at Flea Markets and yard sales.
I wish I still had my View Master. Man, I had a bunch of those to choose from. Thanks for the trip back down memory lane, Max.
I thought it would bore me ow…but it didn’t…I really got into it. Love the 3D effect.
My mum still has an old one – with two generations of slides, some from the 1950s (?) and some from the 1980s.
People who bought tickets to the Desert Trip festival in 2016 were each shipped a Viewmaster with pictures of the Coachella site and Palm Springs area. It was a totally unexpected surprise gift, and perfect for the demographic who were headed to the concert. What a fun memory. When we were little, my grandparents gave my brother and I a Viewmaster set with slides of national parks and tourist sites.
That is a cool thing they did. I still enjoy looking at them. I wanted one of those projectors when I was a kid…it was fun finally getting to see one.
I had a View Master as a kid, and loved looking at the 3-D slides. It got me into taking lots of travel slides in my late teens and early 20s. I bought a Kodak projector & a big screen, and would bore family & friends with my slide shows lol.
LOL… I actually like looking at different places.