You Know, I'm Something of a Scientist Myself
A look at the View-Master Science Series of the 1960s.
Launched about 1967, the View-Master Science Series is one of the many mini or subset collections within View-Master collecting overall.
I’m a big fan of the Science Series. They offer up a nice mix of educational and entertainment content. The packets were a mix of existing/back catalog photos and original photography done specifically for the set.
Here’s a reference list of each packet in the series and its catalog number:
Archaeology — Lost Civilizations of Mexico (B008/F008)
Archaeology — Probing the Past (B684)
Astronautics — The Conquest of Space (B681)
*Astronomy — Exploring the Universe (B687)
Botany — The Plant Kingdom (B680)
*Ecology — The Balance of Nature (B686)
Entomology — Insect World (B688)
*Geology — Our Planet Earth (B675)
Ichthyology — Fish Life (B679)
Mineralogy — Rocks and Minerals (B677)
*Ornithology — Birds of the World (B678)
*Paleontology — Prehistoric Life (B676)
*Physics — Matter and Energy (B682)
*These packets were also issued as Talking View-Master packets. Many of the photos/reels were also repackaged in a variety of Gift Paks in the early 1970s.
According to Harry zur Kleinsmiede’s book, View-Master Reels and Packets Vol. 3, Aeronautics — History of Flight (B685) was initially planned for the Science Series but was instead issued as a History Series packet (another neat series of packets you can collect). Another packet—Mathematics (B683) was planned but never issued.
Another fun tidbit from Harry’s book? The photography for the Mineralogy packet was done by View-Master staff photographer Cliff Bond at the Smithsonian Institution specifically for this packet.
The series continued production into the early 1970s. While there are variations in packet design (as seen in the above photos), the reels themselves were not updated with the packaging changes.
Years later, in 1998, View-Master under Mattel/Fisher-Price, released a series of tie-ins with the Discovery Channel in a modern spin on the Science Series (but that’s another post entirely).
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Great set of VM reels. Perhaps a bit under appreciated by collectors. As always, thanks for your outstanding work.
Those rocks & minerals are still on display here at the Smithsonian! The National Museum of Natural History has that cool section that plays with the lighting to demonstrate phosphorescence.