Tru-Vue, a subsidiary of Rock Island Bridge and Iron Works, was a manufacturer of

stereoscopic Stereoscopy, also called stereoscopics or stereo imaging, is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image is ...

filmstrips and corresponding

stereoscope A stereoscope is a device for viewing a stereoscopy, stereoscopic pair of separate images, depicting left-eye and right-eye views of the same scene, as a single three-dimensional image. A typical stereoscope provides each eye with a lens that ...

viewers, based in

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 37,108 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the confluence of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock a ...

, from 1932 to 1951 and in

Beaverton, Oregon Beaverton is a city in the Tualatin Valley, located in Washington County in the U.S. state of Oregon, with a small portion bordering Portland. The city is among the main cities that make up the Portland metropolitan area. Its population was ...

, from 1951 until the late 1960s. The company is historically significant as a bridge between the stereoscopic cards of the 19th century and the View-Master reels of the mid-20th.

Description

The film strips, or film cards, were fed through a slide viewer similar to a View-Master, which was

art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady flow, steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the f ...

in style. The viewers were made of

bakelite Bakelite ( ), formally , is a thermosetting polymer, thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed by Belgian chemist ...

and available in multiple

color Color (or colour in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though co ...

s. When held up to light the images appeared in 3D. The films were based on attractive scenery, children's stories, travel,

night life Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, Bar (establishment), bars, nightclubs, party, parties, live music, conc ...

, and current events.

Purchase by Sawyer's

The company was purchased in 1951 by

Sawyer's Sawyer's, Inc. was an American manufacturer and retailer of slide projectors, scenic slides, View-Master reels and viewers, postcards, and related products, based in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1914 as a photo-finishing company, Sawyer's began p ...

—the manufacturer of the View-Master—because Tru-Vue had an exclusive contract to make children's filmstrips based on

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

characters. Tru-Vue moved at that time from Rock Island, Illinois, to Beaverton, Oregon,"Beaverton Office Opened by Firm" (August 26, 1951). '' The Sunday Oregonian'' (Portland, Oregon), Section 2, p. 8. near where Sawyer's had built a new plant, and for a few years was a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

company of Sawyer's."Firm Holds Sales Meet" (July 1, 1956). ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

'' (Portland, Oregon), Section 1, p. 33. Eventually, it became only a

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

name. Both View-Master and Tru-Vue products were manufactured into the 1960s by Sawyer's.

Competitors

Competitors of Tru-Vue included the American company Novelview from the 1930s and the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

manufacturer Sightseer from the 1950s. Forgeries of Tru-Vue are also known, including the British True-View from the 1950s that copied the style of viewers, filmstrips, and film boxes, and a True-View viewer made in Hong Kong during the 1950s that copied the shape of a Tru-Vue viewer but accepted opaque cards instead of films.

References

External links

*
Tru-Vue Information
on stereoscopy.com
Tru-Vue articles
on Brooklyn Stereography {{Stereoscopy Stereoscopic photography 1932 establishments in Illinois Companies based in Beaverton, Oregon Companies based in Rock Island County, Illinois Manufacturing companies established in 1932 Manufacturing companies based in Illinois Manufacturing companies based in Oregon 1960s disestablishments in Oregon

Description

Purchase by Sawyer's

Competitors

References

Further reading

External links