Over the weekend, while shopping at a vintage toy store with some friends, I happened across a View-Master Model C viewer.  I don't think the seller knew the value of the product, because I got a really good deal when I bought it!

View-Master Model C Viewer

As many of you know, I'm somewhat of a vintage View-Master collector (remember our Christmas trip to View-Masterville?), continued from my fascination with the 3D product as a kid.  These days, I'm mostly interested in the real-life scenic reels of tourist attractions.  It's very fun to look at images from Niagara Falls or Washington D.C. as they were depicted in an era long ago.  The View-Master is still in production, owned by Mattel these days and marketed as a Fisher-Price brand.  However, it's primarily targeted at the pre-school age group with reels based on cartoon properties.

Somewhat familiar design

The Model C viewer I picked up was in production from 1946-1956 and was the first View-Master viewer to utilize the now-famous "top loading" reel design.  It's also commonly referred to as a "Bakelite viewer," given that it used that early namesake synthetic plastic in its parts.  Despite that plastic shell, there are quite a few metal elements in the design, which is one thing I really like about the viewer.  The internal mechanics handle reels very cleanly and efficiently.

Sawyer's?

You can see from the trademark information on the viewer that it was made by a company called Sawyer's, which manufactured the View-Master until 1966 when it was acquired by GAF.  Of note for Disney theme park fans like myself, in 1951 Sawyer's bought a competitor called Tru-Vue, which just so happened to have the licensing rights to Disney properties, thus they were able to create Mouse-inspired reels with the purchase.  This buyout created one of my View-Master collection fascinations, reels of Disney theme parks!

I'm looking forward to many fun hours with my "new," vintage View-Master viewer!