In John Waldsmith's excellent Stereoviews Price Guide (1991) the films are listed at $25-$30 each. Today 25 years later, the reels are even harder to find. On CraigCamera website a complete set in Ex condition is selling for $195.00. These views are all better than EX condition and priced well below their amount.
The 3D views contained within the two strip set include:
Reel 1: General Views
Reel 2: Flowers and Aviation
Reel 3: Gayway
Reel 4: Street of Nations
Condition:
The film strip reels... are all in near mint condition and all are in their early & original red and white boxes with the original cardboard inserts! I have personally gone through each film strip reel with white gloves on and inspected every frame and every film cog. All are perfect guaranteed! I would suggest when viewing these rare films (and all other Tru-Vue films), to pull them slowly through the viewer rather than using the advance lever. This is how the cogs get torn.
All of the boxes... are all in Excellent condition for boxes this old, as can be seen in my photos. One box for No. 2 is a few years newer than the others. All flaps are present and there are no tears or crushes anywhere on the boxes, but there is the stock number on the back flap of one box written in tiny numbers. I have tried my best to photograph every aspect of the boxes and film strips. Please check my pictures out and if you have any questions, please email! Packaging on these will be very secure and shipping will include insurance for full value.
Thanks for looking!
PLEASE CHECK OUT MY OTHER LISTINGS FOR MORE 3D STEREO VIEWERS, VIEWS, and CAMERAS
About the Golden Gate Exposition:
The Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) (1939 and 1940), held at San Francisco's Treasure Island, was a World's Fair celebrating, among other things, the city's two newly built bridges. The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge opened in 1936 and the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937. The exposition opened from February 18, 1939, through October 29, 1939, and from May 25, 1940, through September 29, 1940.
Treasure Island, a flat, geometrically-shaped, artificial island attached to Yerba Buena Island, was built for the Exposition near where the Oakland span and the San Francisco span of the Bay Bridge join. Built by the federal government, Treasure Island was to be an airport for Pan American's transpacific flying boats, like the China Clipper. Due to wartime needs, it was turned into a naval base used by the US Navy from 1941 to 1997.
The theme of the exposition was "Pageant of the Pacific", as it showcased the goods of nations bordering the Pacific Ocean. The theme was physically symbolized by "The Tower of the Sun" and a giant, 80-foot statue of Pacifica, goddess of the Pacific ocean.
As the boundaries of human intercourse are widened by giant strides of trade and travel, it is of vital import that the bonds of human understanding be maintained, enlarged and strengthened rapidly. Unity of the Pacific nations is America's concern and responsibility; their onward progress deserves now a recognition that will be a stimulus as well.
Washington is remote from the Pacific. San Francisco stands at the doorway to the sea that roars upon the shores of all these nations, and so to the Golden Gate International Exposition I gladly entrust a solemn duty. May this, America's World's Fair on the Pacific in 1939, truly serve all nations in symbolizing their destinies, one with every other, through the ages to come.
—President Franklin D. Roosevelt, via radio, during the opening ceremonies.
The San Francisco Downtown Association created the 49-Mile Scenic Drive to promote the exposition and the city. The drive started at San Francisco City Hall and ended on Treasure Island after winding around the picturesque "City by the Bay."
About Tru-Vue from the UK Viewmaster website:
TRU-VUE Inc., Rock Island, Illinois USA manufactured the viewers and over 400 different 3D film reels. The company was founded in 1931 and after the 1933 "Century of Progress Exposition" in Chicago grew and flourished through the 1930's and 40's. The original viewers used 35mm filmstrips, generally containing 14 stereo views, which were pulled through the viewer using a lever (visible at the bottom of the left-hand photograph below). In 1949 Tru-Vue sold over a million reels of film! The quality of the 3D presented is generally very good, although the films need to be handled carefully. Film-strips and viewers were made between 1933 and 1952. Ultimately the Tru-Vue company was acquired by Sawyers View-Master in 1952, who wanted the rights to Disney licenses held by the company.
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