Traveling’s Fun … See all 48 States!
Wait, how many states?
This week, I take a look at a fun summer View-Master promotion from 1958 and the hard-to-find reels that were created for it.
The Federal-Aid Highway Act was created in 1956, and with it the Interstate Highway System. By 1958, major construction was underway and road trips had become wildly popular.
By 1958, there were more than 67 million cars registered in the United States, more than twice the number at the dawn of that decade! Automobile travel became a beloved American pastime.
View-Master, which had launched as an alternative to postcards in the 1940s, grew exponentially during this time and were a way to take a little piece of your trip home with you. To capitalize on that trend, parent company Sawyer’s Inc. launched a major promotion in the summer of 1958 called “Traveling’s Fun.”
The company highlighted the promotion in its dealer magazine, the Dealerscope that summer:
“… this will be the most extensive [View-Master] summer promotion in history. The sales promotion department is making available demonstration View-Master units to all state travel and information bureaus, state auto associations, chambers of commerce, all transportation company and their offices and just about every place the traveler might stop this summer.”
They also took out a full color ad in Look Magazine in June of 1958. That ad was blown up into 17”x22” posters that were sent to all of the aforementioned travel outlets along with the demo kit — a viewer with “a special state reel.”
The state reels covered 48 states but plus Alaska, Hawaii and Washington, D.C. Alaska and Hawaii were not official states until 1959. Washington, D.C. is still waiting.
Additionally, an America the Beautiful poster was available to anyone for just 25 cents each. It features the View-Master advertisement with a listing of the states and other state information in place of the advertising message. Per the Dealerscope magazine: “Printed on quality grade paper, it is ideal for posting or framing in classroom, home or store. The information on each state includes: population, capital, largest city, total area, state flower, and rank by population and area.”
Reader, I desperately want one of these posters. It’s my new Holy Grail of Collecting.
Anyway, these special state reels were named “Highlights of…” and were printed in green ink (as many of the demonstration reels of the era that were intended for dealers were). They were never sold to the public, which makes them rather hard to find. However, the photos used to create them were simply pulled from the existing state tour packets so the photos themselves are not rare. This makes the “Highlights of…” reels a fun bonus for collectors who like unusual items, but for those mostly interested in seeing the sights? The good news is that you can easily see those on other reels.
Since I’m closer to the “crazy” variety of collector? I do what them! I got lucky recently and scored a lot on ebay that had quite a few. So, for those of you who are curious about these curious reels, here’s a handy list of reels along with their numbers.
I’ve bolded the ones I do NOT have, so if you are looking to make a trade or sell me one of those? Let me know!
A9254 — Highlights of Alabama The Cotton State
A1004 — Highlights of Alaska
A3604 — Highlights of Arizona The Grand Canyon State
A4404 — Highlights of Arkansas The Wonder State
A1704 — Highlights of California The Golden State
A3204 — Highlights of Colorado
A7504 — Highlights of Connecticut The Constitution State
A7704 — Highlights of Delaware The Blue Hen State
A9604 — Highlights of Florida
A9154 — Highlights of Georgia The Peach State
A1204 — Highlights of Hawaii
A2854 — Highlights of Idaho The Gem State
A5504 — Highlights of Illinois, the Prairie State
A5704 — Highlights of Indiana The Hoosier Sate
A5404 — Highlights of Iowa The Hawkeye State
A4654 — Highlights of Kansas
A8454 — Highlight of Kentucky The Bluegrass State
A9454 — Highlights of Louisiana The Pelican State
A7154 — Highlights of Maine The Pine Tree State
A7804 — Highlights of Maryland The Old Line State
A7254 — Highlights of Massachusetts The Bay State
A5804 — Highlights of Michigan
A5104 — Highlights of Minnesota
A9354 — Highlights of Mississippi The Magnolia State
A4504 — Highlights of Missouri The Show-Me State
A2954 — Highlights of Montana The Treasure State
A4754 — Highlights of Nebraska The Cornhusker State
A1554 — Highlights of Nevada
A7004 — Highlights of New Hampshire The Granite State
A7604 — Highlights of New Jersey
A3754 — Highlights of New Mexico
A6504 — Highlights of New York
A8904 — Highlights of North Carolina The Tarheel State
A5004 — Highlights of North Dakota
A5954 — Highlights of Ohio
A4304 — Highlights of Oklahoma The Sooner State
A2454 — Highlights of Oregon The Beaver State
A6304 — Highlights of Pennsylvania
A7404 — Highlights of Rhode Island "Little Rhody"
A9054 — Highlights of South Carolina The Palmetto State
A4854 — Highlights of South Dakota
A8754 — Highlights of Tennessee The Volunteer State
A4104 — Highlights of Texas
A3454 — Highlights of Utah The Beehive State
A6904 — Highlights of Vermont The Green Mountain State
A8104 — Highlights of Virginia
A7904 — Highlights of Washington D.C.
A2704 — Highlights of Washington State
A8354 — Highlights of West Virginia The Panhandle State
A5254 — Highlights of Wisconsin
A3054 — Highlights of Wyoming The Equality State
What’s your summer travel plan, my friends? Does it involve a road trip? Let me know in the comments. And don’t forget to smash that ❤️ button below!
So envious of that recent highlights reel score!! Still only have one -- my current state of Virginia -- though I hope to find another before I die.
No summer plans, sadly, still paying for the car. Daytrips are fun, though, so we'll be cruising through local-ish antique malls like two thrifty fools!