The following selected scans are of the Gaf View-Master reels and packaging for Jules Verne’s sci-fi classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
More View-Master goodies can be seen here Thanks for looking 🙂
Reels and packaging images
Slide images
It’s really finicky trying to get images of View-Master slides which are less than an inch in size and more than fifty years old! I tried scanning them at first – to no avail, but ended up with some half-decent camera shots using my trusty Fuji. The set designs and character figures for the narrative are pretty stunning I think.
Thanks for looking 🙂 And big thanks to good friend and fellow WP blogger Spira who sent me the above View-Master reel in a recent trade. Please check out Spira’s wonderful art blog inspiration
Bonus TVTA trivia: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by French writer Jules Verne was originally published in serial format throughout 1869 and 1870. Its first translation into English language occurred in 1873, with many errors in the translation of Verne’s French, including some character changes. The French title – Vingt mille lieues sous les mers actually means Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas – plural, not Sea singular, and relates to the distance travelled under the sea – 80,000 kilometres, and not the depth. The farthest depth reached as mentioned in the novel is only 4 leagues. The novel’s full French title is Vingt mille lieues sous les mers: Tour du monde sous-marin, “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: A Tour of the Underwater World”. Translation and character errors occurred up until the 1960s and 1990s when attempts were made to translate the novel faithfully to Verne’s original.
The Vintage Toy Advertiser 
Wow – these are great to see! Getting such fantastic pictures of these tiny reels is pretty impressive.
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Thanks Toydust. I took a load of pics but only a few turned out good. It’s a challenge trying to grab them! Glad you like.
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Great post!!
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Thanks Spanish 🙂
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Fantastic – great work in getting these brilliant photos!
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Thanks, Wibi. I’m planning on doing some more posts like this. It’s a good challenge trying to capture the images.
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I fully support another hundred or so posts of the same type. Love it. RE-posted on twitter @trefology
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Thanks for the Tweetage, Tref. Absolutely, I’m already on the lookout for more reels to make similar posts. They’re great fun to see!
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Wonderful! I never saw this in a View Master, but I would like to!
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You never know quite what you’re going to see with some of the reels. This one in particular was a wonderful surprise to see the work that had gone into creating images for the story.
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Hi TVTA and Neo, would that be the Dr Who story “Castrovalva”? If it is I have that set too! The story takes place just after the Tom Baker/Peter Davidson regeneration and Davidson’s Doctor lands on a planet ruled by the laws of mathematics. He also suffered regeneration sickness and had to have a “Zero Cabinet” built out of TARDIS wall panels to recuperate in. Great story and a great toy (we did chat about View Masters before and Stereoscopic technology during World War 2)
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I still have set set of Peter Davidson View master reels in the packaging. Used to love using the device as a child
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Brilliant, would love to see some Doctor Who reels! I have fond memories as well of the View-master as a child. A great toy.
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