UNCOMMON VIEW-MASTER VIEWERS

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Model B Viewer, Made in England

This unusual round View-Master viewer is almost identical to the US Model B viewer, but features wider, wrap-around eyecups. (This apparently stops more light coming into the eyepiece than any other model.)

These viewers were the only ones made in the UK, under licence to Sawyers, and are marked Made by Salford Electrical Instruments Ltd, Salford, Lancs, England, on the top of the viewer.

As an aside, Salford Electrical Instruments (S.E.I.) were at one time part of the massive G.E.C. company and also made the famous SEI Spotmeter.

As far as I know, this Spotmeter had the smallest measuring angle of any commercial exposure meter – just half a degree!

The UK viewers seem far less prone to the warping common on most US model A and B versions and are usually found in pretty good shape for their age. The small metal parts on this example are all bright, the eyepieces are fine and all works OK. (Actually, the glue holding the eyepieces in has dried out with age, but this can easily be fixed.)

The original box (an uncommon find) has a big label on the top saying The View-Master made in Great Britain patent number 538492. As you can see, the box top is orange and the base brown. I have yet to see a box for these viewers that is the same colour top and bottom, so I guess this is how they came originally. Several of the examples I have come across look like they may have got slightly damp at some time and have then dried out, leaving them a bit “mottled” on the bottom with the paper slightly lifting off in places. Possibly old stock that has been in storage and has got damp before they were sold.

These viewers are a “reel” talking point and a great addition to any View-Master collection. This IS a rare item, even here in the UK. In nearly 15 years of collecting and dealing with View-Master, I have only seen 6 or 7 boxed examples of this viewer.
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Model B Viewer, Brown

Circa 1947 Sawyers made Model B viewers with either all brown or all-blue bodies. On both of these colour variations the eyecups were still moulded in black, so don't be fooled into thinking (or being told) that they are later replacements. Presumably the eyepieces were left as black because they had already made thousands of them and it was just not cost-effective to do batches in these new colours.

Although I think that the brown version, shown here from my collection, is only slightly less common than the blue, it usually fetches a considerably lower price (shame)!
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Model C Viewer, Brown

I recently came across this Brown Model C viewer at a camera show in France. I almost missed it as it is a VERY dark brown and you can only really tell it is brown when it is up against a standard black viewer, see image (enhanced).

A closer look reveals that there are two subtle differences. Firstly, the Sawyers logo and Patent information is enclosed by a key-line and secondly the aperture for reel titles is very slightly larger.
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Model C Viewer, Boulder City

Here we have what looks like a bog standard Model C viewer, but turn it over and there is a neat little label printed on the back that reads Visitors Bureau, Box 1, Boulder City, Nevada. I assume this was either used as a promotional item or came with reels of one of Nevada's tourist sites. This just goes to show that, as with the Library storage boxes, it is always worth thoroughly checking over what looks like even the most common item before consigning it to the rubbish box! Any more information on this item would be appreciated.

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Model C Viewer, Musical !!!!

I guess we have all had an item pass through our hands at sometime or another and then wished for evermore that we had kept it. Here is mine - luckily I photographed it before I sold it on!

I got this amazing viewer from an antique shop in London in the early 1990s when it cost me the princely sum of £10.00. A week later I sold it for £40.00 and felt pretty good, but ever since then I have regretted losing it and have never seen (I guess that should be "heard") of another.

The whole thing is about the size of a Model C with the Light Attachment fitted. The top section is a standard Model C viewer but there is a lower section, which comes in two halves, and clamps on the bottom of the viewer. This lower section contains a music box! A normal View-Master reel goes in top and yes, you guessed it, as you press the advance lever down to see the next picture it plays a tune. From memory I think the tune was “Edelweiss” which seems appropriate as the music box section is marked Ivolene, Swiss Musical Box, Patent Pending. The music will play for about 10 seconds and then repeats each time you advance the reel. The clockwork music mechanism is wound with the simple key sticking out of the back, as seen in the picture.

The whole thing really looks like it was designed as a single unit and not something a company has bought in and just bolted on another part. The musical section is made from a very similar material to the viewer and even matches it in colour and finish. I guess these were sold with a reel (or reels) as tourist souvenirs in the local gift shops. I’m not sure if this was an “official” item, done with the blessing of Sawyers, for I have never seen it mentioned in any View-Master literature, or in any reference book. If you have any further information, please let me know.

In today’s market I would expect an item like this to easily reach £100 (around $140 - $150) on Ebay and who knows where it might go from there?

Update - Aug 2006
Well, I just found another! Today, at an antique fair in Birmingham, I came across this beauty.


It is just like the viewer above, but still in the original box! The box lid is marked Ivolene, Swiss Musical Boxes and the side has the remains of a label which looks to read Music Box in 3 different languages. The bottom of the music box has part of a label which presumably indicated the name of the tune played. The bit that is left reads ...füeh, eh d'Sunne lacht and the nearest I can find on the web is an Morge Früeh, Eh d'Sunne Lacht, unless you know better of course. Confusingly, the label on the side of the box reads Weggiserlied  which seem to be a Swiss folk song about going to Weggis Fair, but it doesn't sound much like the music that this item plays (it's amazing what you can find on the Internet).

Also in the box, apart for a few common Swiss View Master reels, was a list of Grindelwald ski schools and other local attractions for the 1956/7 season. So, coupled with the style of the viewer, I'm guessing that relates to when the item was actually sold. This time round, I think I'm keeping this one!
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Model E Viewer, Made in France
To the untrained eye, this could easily be mistaken for yet another Model E viewer. But on closer examination you will see that between the eyepieces it is marked Made in France. In all other respects it is identical to a US or Belgian made viewer. If you are lucky to find one with the box the big give-away of course, is that it is marked Visonneuse 3-Dimensions. The French factory was only operational for a short time, late in 1957, so you need a keen eye to spot one of these if, like most collectors, you have seen hundreds of viewers in your life. There is also a gold library box that was made in France.
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Model E Viewer, Grey

 

This is one of the rare (damn! I used the dreaded ‘R’ word) colours of the Belgian made Model E viewers and, apart from an illustration on the cover of the Welsch book, I had never seen one before this example came along. It has a black advance lever and the metal part of the advance mechanism has a sort of reddish colour to it, not at all like the normal brass found on other Model E viewers. It came in a one-piece box which opens at each end, not the more common 2-piece box. A fellow collector told me that most of the coloured versions he has seen were in this style of box – so worth looking out for them.
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Model E Viewer, Maroon
This is one of the more uncommon colours of the Belgian made Model E viewers (in fact I have only ever seen this particular example in maroon). It is possible that this viewer was made to go on a counter-top View-Master display as it has a neat hole drilled in the front and the remains of a cord (not electrical) where it could have been fixed down to prevent it from "walking" (a bit like the banks do with their pens). The ivory coloured advance knob on this viewer has 3 grooves in the top and is a slightly different shape to that of the normal Model E.
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Model J Viewer, Purple, Royal Wedding Set

In 1981 Sawyers, along with thousands of other companies around the world, decided to commemorate the marriage of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer and marketed a special edition View-Master set. This set comprised a purple viewer and a specially shot set of 3 reels. Although several of the scenes are not true 3D, they feature stock shots of St Paul’s Cathedral with extra inset pictures, to give the illusion of depth. There are several interesting pictures of the Royal Family on their way to and from the service but, unlike the set of Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation, there are no close-up shots of the royal party.

Here in the UK the wedding was a huge affair and the shops were flooded with products featuring pictures of the happy couple. From tea towels, teacups, pillowcases and chocolate bars to books and magazines, there was hardly an item that DIDN’T feature their photos. There was even a special public holiday announced to allow everyone the day off to watch the ceremony.

This is the ONLY way to get a Purple Model L viewer – and an expensive one at that as these sets now change hands for around £100 ($150) each. If only I had bought a few at the time!

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Model L Viewer, Gray, Embassy Suites Hotel


This was a special edition viewer and reel advertising Embassy Suites Hotel. The Model L viewer is grey and was only available through the promotion. There is a large, red label attached to the back of the viewer that reads Embassy Suites Hotel, New York City. The accompanying reel shows various views taken inside the hotel, such as the lounge and some of the rooms, but there is a twist - each view features someone dressed up in a huge Garfield costume! Don't ask me why this is, either Garfield likes to stay at this hotel when in the Big Apple, or there was a tie-in with the advertising. Either way, this is an interesting item and one that should appeal to View-Master and Garfield collectors alike.
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Model L Viewer, Red, Corbis

This item must be a front-runner in the “Worst Ever Commercial View-Master Promotion” competition. I came across what I first thought was a good use of 3D in a promotion at an image show in London, early in 2000. The show was designed for professional photographers, art directors, picture libraries etc. On my way round I spotted a line of View-Master viewers and went over to take a look. The stand was for Corbis, one of the UKs largest picture libraries (now owned by Getty, I think). They had personalised a standard Model L viewer with their logo on the back and inside was a reel that featured some of their stock images. After chatting to them for a while they told me that if you looked through the viewer, the pictures inside came right out at you in 3D, just like
those ones you had when you were a kid! They only had a few left but I managed to get hold of two, one for my collection and one to swap or sell and I trotted off round the corner to look at the pictures. They had chosen some really good images including three penguins in a row, a child on a tricycle by a long, winding road, lunchtime on a skyscraper construction site and a cowboy throwing a lasso at the camera. But what a disappointment, they were not in stereo! Obviously someone knew the type of pictures best suited to 3D, but didn’t realise that you either need to use a stereo camera, or have two images, each taken from a slightly different position, to make it work. Just to round things off, the rear diffuser of the viewer has a mottled effect in the plastic. This means that when you look through it light is reflected off the surface and you see a distracting speckled effect.

All together, not a very successful promotion but as they are no longer available certainly a collectable of the future – and a talking point.
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Talking View-Master Viewer, Electronic

Although it is often the Talking View-Master reel sets that are difficult to get hold of (and even then they are not always found in usable condition) most collectors will be aware that the Talking View-Master viewer itself is pretty common. Here is an exception though as the "Electronic" version was only made for a short time. The box is marked ©View-Master International so that would date it to around the mid 1980s. I'm sure that one reason for its comparative rarity is that it is so tricky to use, you just can't get the reels in properly.

If you were a child trying to use it as a toy (heaven forbid!) then it must have been really frustrating and I can imagine that many of them stayed in the toy cupboard. If this was the case, then is was a faliure of the brilliant concept behind View-Master, which is to rush out and buy further reels.

To be honest, I have not yet managed to get this viewer working properly, as each time I try to insert the card, above, it gets stuck, but just take a look at these Micro-Computer Controlled Features:

Optional mains adaptor
Linear tracking tone arm
Operates on 4 AA batteries
Self-cleaning sapphire needle
Constant speed controlled motor
Authentic reproduction of voices and music
Brilliant 3-D pictures synchronized with original movie & TV sound tracks
This last point is interesting as the reel box for the Snow White set proudly announces that it features ‘Music and voices from the original sound track of Disney’s first full-length animated film’. Interesting because the previous talking sets had their own, unique sound track and did not use that of the film. You will notice however, that the box does NOT say that the images are taken from the actual film. Now that WOULD have been fun!
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© Tim Goldsmith 2001
Last revised: August 23, 2006