Go Inside 1980s View-Master Factories
Some recent eBay auctions provide a rare glimpse inside both U.S. and Belgian factories.
Collectors spend a lot of time on eBay, scanning listings looking for desired items. I’ve spent more time on ebay than I have looking at reels, probably?
While I usually scroll, scroll, scroll past the vast majority of listings, a recent spate of auctions caught my eye. They featured Stereo Realist 3D slides taken inside View-Master factories, likely in the 1980s. Sold by 3D by DrT — a very reputable seller! Buy his stuff and shout-out to him for these pics from his listings! — they come from the collection of Sheldon Aronowitz.
See the video above to understand why Aronowitz is a legendary figure in the View-Master and 3D collecting communities. His massive collection has been slowly popping up on eBay since his death in 2020. He was also an avid photographer and it’s likely he took some of the photos below!
Let’s take a look at the factories:
This shows the packaging of a Model L View-Master viewer. There are some clues to when this was taken: This model was introduced in in 1977. It first had an orange ball as the advance lever (see the photo on the packaging). The ball was soon replaced by a flat plastic orange lever, which is what we see on the viewer on the production line. In 1981, GAF Corporation sold View-Master to private investors who regrouped as View-Master International (VMI). So, these photos were likely taken sometime between 1979 and 1980-ish.
View-Master was founded and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, for most of its existence. These photos are likely from the Portland plant if my conclusions above are correct.
Now, what’s interesting to me is that the other auctions of this format offer a glimpse into the Belgian plant. View-Master opened factories around the world during its heyday (the middle of the last century) but the plant in Belgium was the most robust, providing reels to Europe and beyond.
View-Master’s original International Marketing Director Chuck White died recently. According to his obituary, White “made 22 marketing trips to Latin America and seven around the world setting up View Master factories in Belgium, Australia, Japan and India.” As I recall there were also manufacturing facilities in Spain and France.
This is a Model J, produced from 1975 to 1994 and manufactured exclusively in Belgium. Red was the most common color for this viewer.
A look at the manufacturing floor. Again, based on what I can see, these were Belgian-produced products.
LINKS & RESOURCES
Buy Dr. T’s stuff! He’s a very reputable eBay seller of 3D things. I bought his book on how to disassemble and clean the Model D — the Cadillac of viewers — and it was invaluable!
Hey, I spend a lot of time on eBay, but let’s never ever forget that time the executives were too busy stalking and harassing journalists to bother improving their site for buyers and sellers!
Thanks for this fun look into Aronowitz’s gargantuan collection! The different views of the Portland and Belgian plants are also neat!
I did see those stereo realist slides on eBay. A wee bit pricey - SR slides tend to be though! Great photos.