POCKET STEREOSCOPE (Jul, 1933)
This looks like an early Viewmaster.
POCKET STEREOSCOPE SHOWS VIEWS ON FILM
Gone is the old-fashioned parlor stereoscope of a generation ago, but its counterpart, in modern guise, has just made its appearance. The new pocket-sized form of the instrument, illustrated above, is as small as a pair of opera glasses and uses thirty-five-millimeter motion picture film instead of paper photographs. A shift lever causes the pictures to appear.
you’re absolutely right, I think the Viewmaster even uses 35mm film.
Check out this 3D viewer site- lots of vintage stuff!
http://www.3dstereo.com/
Comment by Stannous — April 9, 2007 @ 8:57 pm
Very cool site.
Comment by Charlie — April 9, 2007 @ 10:11 pm
Re #1:
The viewmaster reel transpanencies are way smaller than 35mm.
16mm or some proprietary scale.
Re #2
I’ll check that out. Thanks.
*********
The guys who developed HDTV, should have made 3DTV instead.
Supposedly at a recent Consumer Electronics Show, LG, the maker of LCD TVs amoung other things, demonstrated a goggelless 3D large screen LCD.
I suspect to get the left eye/right eye seperation, the viewers would have to be in designated areas in front of the screen.
(My ascii-fu is weak but something like this…)
*****L*R***L*R***L*R***L*R*****
****(@^@)*******(@^@)**********
where bands of left eye image and right eye image areas from the screen have to meet the viewers’ appropriate eye.
Comment by jayessell — April 10, 2007 @ 8:06 am
I own one of these (or one really similar). I found it an antique store; it came with one roll of images (but the roll has been stored for so long that I don’t dare to try to unroll it) – its about the same vintage, from what I remember. I consider it a part of my “virtual reality” collection…
Comment by Andrew L. Ayers — May 12, 2010 @ 3:04 pm
Post Cereal gave away somewhat similar 3d viewers in the early ’60s. If I recall, you got the viewer for 3 box tops, and a slide or two in every box. Probably half-frame 35mm film.
I had a whole set of dinosaur slides. Post cereals were mostly crap, but they had the best bonuses and the best cartoons.
(Actually, Shredded Wheat/Shreddies had the best promotional items – things like checker sets and sets of fighter planes (1:288 or smaller), etc. But what kid ate those?)
Comment by Toronto — May 12, 2010 @ 8:56 pm