Summary

Sawyer View-Master, 3D, with blue plastic stereoscopic viewer, five discs of images, operating instructions and 'reel list'. The discs feature 'The Lost World: Jurassic Park' (two copies); Disney's 'The Lion King' (two copies); and 'Gaston the Villain'. The images on each disc are labelled to indicate what can be seen.

'View-Master' is the trademark of special-format stereoscopes and corresponding thin cardboard View-Master disks containing seven stereoscopic 3-D pairs of small colour photographs on transparent film. The View-Master system was introduced at the 1939 New York World's Fair by US company Sawyer's; the View-Master Model E, of which this is an example, was introduced in 1955. In the late 1950s the company had a subsidiary in Australia.

The View-Master was used as a prop in the 'House Secrets' exhibition at Scienceworks, 6 March 2006 to 14 July 2013. Most of the props for the exhibition were sourced from opportunity shops in 2002 and 2003 by curator Andi Horvarth and other Museum Victoria staff. 'House Secrets' aimed to 'Explore the science behind all the familiar things in our homes', presenting 'all sorts of wonderful things we might find around the home, from the food we eat, to the appliances we use, to the animals we share our living space with.' The exhibition was 'highly interactive'.

Physical Description

Set comprises blue plastic stereoscopic viewer, using natural light, with orange handle to turn to next image on circular disc of images; operating instructions and 'reel list' printed in colour on one side only, with print on reverse; five discs, unpackaged (two are duplicates); one package containing a disc; and two empty disc packages.

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