The first View-Master was unveiled at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York and was sold
by Sawyer’s, Inc. A single View-Master reel holds 14 film transparencies in 7 pairs,
creating 7 stereoscopic images. The transparencies from each pair are viewed
simultaneously by each eye and simulate binocular depth perception. Originally
intended as an alternative to the scenic postcard, it rapidly gained in popularity.
To date, there have been about 25 different viewer models and over 1.5 billion
copies of reels. The View-Master was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in
1999.
