Some fun facts about 3D and View-Master:
In 1838 Charles Wheatstone and Fox Talbot worked together on stereo photography, which enabled pairs of identical images to be combined and viewed in 3D with glasses.
The first 3D on film was in 1915, with three short one-reel films. The first 3D feature film was made in 1922, and called Power of Love.
The only 3D feature to have spawned a sequel also shot in 3D, was the Creature from the Black Lagoon after Revenge of the Creature was released in 1955. The film also happened to offer a certain Clint Eastwood his first screen role as an uncredited lab technician.
The silver screen is more than a glitzy metaphor for the cinema. 3D films viewed with passive glasses must be projected onto a silver painted screen. The technique involves using polarized light to create the 3D effect and only a silver screen is good enough to reflect the film image back without losing that polarization.
William Gruber, an organ maker from Portland, Oregon, invented the View-Master. While visiting the Oregon Caves, he met Harold Graves, the president of Sawyer's, Inc. His company specialized in picture post cards. Together, they created the successful company that exists today.
During World War II, View-Master produced millions of reels for the U.S. Government that aided the military in airplane & ship identification and range estimation.
For more fun facts check out these websites:
Pocket-Lint
How It Works
Thrillscape
Also, don't forget to take the fun View-Master quiz to test your knowledge and learn some things you may not have known.
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