Sunday, April 29, 2012

Indianapolis 500 Item of the Day: View-Masters


It’s hard to explain to a child of today what exactly View-Masters are. Simply, they are slides you looked at through a special, uh, viewer. Three reels, with seven photos each, came in each package.

View-Masters might still be around – I bought a few for my kids when they were younger – but I suspect the low-tech approach to entertainment just doesn’t resonate today. On the other hand, if you grew up in the 1960s and ‘70s, you definitely remember them, probably fondly. Maybe you even had talking View-Masters.

Just about any subject was ripe for the View-Master treatment, including the Indianapolis 500. This set chronicles the ill-fated 1973 race. It has some great pictures, like of the old main gate (with a red Pinto poised to travel onto the grounds of the World’s Greatest Race Course), the old museum (remember having to stand in line outside to wait your turn?) and some of the top cars of the day.

1 comment:

  1. Yeah, it’s really quite hard to explain to kids what View Masters are. I actually have tons of it and my kids are wondering what these are. Of course, I let them experience it. They’re pretty amused and they enjoyed it. Now, they also want to collect lots of it. -Francesca Slone

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