Toy created by William Gruber in 1939.

In the 1800's, a new piece of technology came on the scene which allowed users to view 3-D images. Called the stereograph, this device used double images on a postcard-sized paper to be viewed so that people saw the scene with depth. Popular in many homes, the sterograph was limited by its ability to be able to only see one image at a time.

In 1939, William Gruber invented a device that stored seven different images on a circular card that could be viewed through a hand-held device. Calling his invention the View-master, Gruber marketed this new product with the help of Harold Graves as a type of home entertainment. The Viewmaster not only allowed users seven images to the sterographs one, it also allowed them to see the images in color through the use of Kodachrome film.

In 1951, Gruber's partner in the marketing of Viewmaster, Sawyer's, a greeting card firm, acquired one of their competitors, Tru-View. While it allowed them to have seemingly no competition in the market, more importantly it allowed them to acquire Tru-View's contract with Walt Disney Studios. This allowed View-Master to come out with discs or reels that contained many of Disney's beloved characters as well as images from that land of dreams, Disneyland.

The View-Master has changed hands many times over the years, but is still a popular product with children of all ages. Many of the older reels have become much sought collectors items and are hot commodities.