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Tru-Vue, a subsidiary of Rock Island Bridge and Iron Works, was a manufacturer of
Stereo's missing link
July–August 1980 issue (Vol. 7, No. 3) of Stereo World magazine.
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
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 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 makes the ima ...
viewers, based in Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is a city in and the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The original Rock Island, from which the city name is derived, is now called Arsenal Island. The population was 37,108 at the 2020 census. Located on t ...
, from 1932–1951 and in Beaverton, Oregon
Beaverton is a city in Washington County, in the U.S. state of Oregon with a small portion bordering Portland in the Tualatin Valley. The city is among the main cities that make up the Portland metropolitan area. Its population was 97,494 at ...
, from 1951 until the late 1960s. The film strips, or film cards, were fed through a slide viewer
A slide viewer (also called transparency viewer) is a device for looking at film transparencies or similar photographic images.
Description
A slide viewer is usually a small handheld device with a slot in which a slide can be inserted to see a ...
similar to a View-Master
View-Master is the trademark name of a line of special-format stereoscopes and corresponding View-Master "reels", which are thin cardboard disks containing seven stereoscopy, Stereoscopic 3-D pairs of small transparent color photographs on film.M ...
, which was art deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...
or 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.
Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the framework of ...
in style. The viewers were made of bakelite
Polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, better known as Bakelite ( ), is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed ...
and available in multiple color
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...
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, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, ...
, and current events
News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. ...
. The company was purchased in 1951 by Sawyer's—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 known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
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
''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 U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...
'' (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 owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a ...
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 U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 18 ...
'' (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 good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
name. Both View-Master and Tru-Vue products were manufactured into the 1960s by Sawyer's.
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. Competitors of Tru-Vue included the American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
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.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
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
Further reading
*John Dennis,Stereo's missing link
July–August 1980 issue (Vol. 7, No. 3) of Stereo World magazine.
External links
*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