View-Master Stereoscope

Oh, hey.

I've decided to come back to the land of living, just for the hell of it.

Over the summer my grandmother was moved into an assisted living facility, so my folks had the daunting task of clearing out her house and selling it. As a result, my parents' home has become an antique-lover's dream. There are tons of beautiful photos from as far back as photos can be, and some little curios like this gadget: the View-master Stereoscope.

Alright, and I know you kids from the 80s and 90s know what a View-master is. The wonder of seeing Spider-Man or He-Man running around in stereo is nothing new to most of us. But it might surprise you to learn that this device dates back to 1953!

This one was purchased from Lang's Drug Store in Millet, AB, and it comes with a pamphlet containing an extensive list of reels you could buy as well as loads of accessories. View-Master projectors, "personal" cameras, light attachments, and a library box for all those reels you presumably have.

Some of the highlighted reels in this pamphlet include the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the "U.S. Possessions".... Alaska and Hawaii, which I guess were not yet states.

I loved finding this thing, although like I said the novelty of 3D images has long worn off for me. It's neat because not only is every image on "full colour Kodachrome", but also because it kind of captures a generation. This was not an uncommon thing to have in a household (I recently found out that my roommate has one just like it, from his grandfather), and yet by the time the 80s rolled around their use had changed completely. They became toys: made of plastic and featuring cartoon characters. Sure, the 1953 version could come with reels of Hopalong Cassidy, but there were also images of the Calgary Stampede and Maligne Lake and the National Expo. In the 50s it was something for the whole family: a taste of what futuristic technology lay ahead, maybe.

I just find it kind of interesting that something like this can become so completely mundane that society shrugged it off and gave it to their kids to play with, because it is still beautiful and fascinating. Looking at these images now, I can see the familiar peaks of the Canadian Rockies, but frozen in a time before gore-tex hiking boots and PBA-free water bottles. I can see the Stampede, which I mock but have not actually ever been to, and it looks like I'm actually there! The stereography is good enough to compete some of the stuff you might pay $15 to see in a theatre.

In short, although our culture has moved past such artifacts as film, slides and stereoscopes, the wonder surrounding these things has not completely dissipated. My little 4-year-old niece had a peek through this View-Master and was so bewildered that she had to exclaim with her limited vocabulary: "It looks like.... that!"

Take care, friends!
-C