How View-Master Went From a Weapon Against Kodak to “Just a Toy”

In this episode of View-Master Travels, I explore the corporate history of View-Master and how one of the world’s most recognizable toys changed dramatically depending on the company that owned it. I start in the 1940s with William Gruber, Karl Kurz, Gordon Smith, and Stereocraft Engineering, the remarkable company responsible for the machines and precision manufacturing that made View-Master reels and viewers possible. I also look at the 1950s 3D photography boom, Sawyer’s attempt to capitalize on it with the View-Master Personal Camera, and the engineering behind this unusual camera. I then follow Sawyer’s through the 1950s and 1960s, when View-Master was one part of a larger photography business. I examine Sawyer’s expansion into slide projectors, cameras, Pana-Vue slides, and other products, before turning to Bob Brost and his decision to refocus the company. One surprising story is Sawyer’s investment in the Rols office dictation system—a million-dollar gamble that reveals how far the company was trying to diversify beyond View-Master. I trace Sawyer’s rise as a Kodak competitor before the company became the target of a larger corporation. That corporation was GAF, or General Aniline and Film, which purchased Sawyer’s in 1966 for $24.5 million. I explain why GAF wanted View-Master and how the brand became part of GAF’s larger battle against Kodak. I look at new products, licensed television and movie reels, the talking View-Master, and GAF’s campaign to replace Kodak as the official film sponsor of Disneyland. I also investigate one of the most frustrating issues for collectors today: the switch to cheaper Eastman color print film in the 1970s and the resulting magenta fading that damaged countless reels. Finally, I follow View-Master after GAF sold its consumer photography business in the late 1970s. Arnold Thaler purchased the brand in 1981 and transformed View-Master into a revitalized toy company before Tyco Toys and eventually Mattel acquired it. I look at the rise and fall of View-Master International, the closing of the historic Portland-area factory, and environmental contamination discovered at the former Sawyer’s plant. I trace the brand into the 21st century, when Mattel stopped producing scenic reels and licensed View-Master to Basic Fun. Throughout this history, I’m less interested in the toy itself than in understanding the companies and people who made View-Master possible. From Stereocraft Engineering and Sawyer’s to GAF, View-Master International, Tyco, and Mattel, each owner saw something different in the brand—as an engineering achievement, a photography product, a weapon against Kodak, or simply a children’s toy. In the end, I argue that View-Master’s legacy belongs not to the corporations that owned the name, but to the people who created its reels, viewers, photographs, and technology—and to the collectors and fans who preserve its history today. See my collection and play View-Master games at my website: ViewMasterTravels.com Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 00:41 - Stereocraft Engineering 06:30 - View-Master is Not Enough 09:43 - Bob Brost Focuses View-Master 13:09 - GAF 15:56 - Can View-Master Beat Kodak? 20:24 - View-Master Becomes a Toy 24:39 - Mattel 25:28 - The Problem with the Water 29:10 - The Twenty First Century Made in collaboration with Peter Dibble who makes fantastic history documentaries on all topics related to the Pacific Northwest - check out his work on YouTube @PeterDibble Special thanks to Rich Dubnow and John Kurtz for taking the time to talk with me - I really appreciated it and think your work over the years is fantastic. Hope we can talk again! Much information from the fantastic book View-Master Memories by Mary Ann & Wolfgang Sell. It is available online here: https://stereoworld.org/special-downl... Smith and Kurz with the reel making machine at Stereocraft, plus several other pictures related to Stereocraft, from Susan Pinsky and the 3D Legends Hall of Fame - lots of great information here! Visit at https://archivesusie3d.wixsite.com/3-... A picture of a Model C viewer, and many great 3D viewer images courtesy of Keita Wangari at VintageViewers.com Picture of the Kodak and GAF Photo Trail at Disneyland was from DaveLandWeb.com Bottle of Trilene is Creative Commons, the Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation from the UK Stereo Realist slide of a building - by John Alan Elson Stereo Realist camera by Kim Scarborough Video clip of a Rols Dictation machine taken from @GrumpyTim Video clip of Rols recording material from the Oregon State Archives Lots of information taken from back issues of StereoWorld magazine, available on their web site at StereoWorld.org The background images of people watching something on television or at the drive-in are AI generated - the content was added by me. The color restoration of faded View-Master images was done by AI. The narration is really me.