Tru-Vue

Tru-Vue was a company that existed in Rock Island, IL from 1931-1951 that manufactured stereoscopic filmstrips. They were fed through a slide viewer, similar to a View-Master, which was art deco or streamlined in style. The viewers were made of bakelite and available in multiple colors. When held up to light the images appeared in 3D. The films were based on attractive scenery, children's stories, travel, night life, and current 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 characters. 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 company Novelview from the 1930s and the British 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.

For Further Reading

Association

• View-Master & Tru-Vue Collector's Association

History

• John Dennis, "Stereo's missing link" July–August 1980 issue (Vol. 7, No. 3) of Stereo World magazine.
• Tru-Vue Information on stereoscopy.com

Collecting

• Tom Martin. Tru-Vue Viewer Identification
• Tom Martin. Tru-Vue Viewer Values

• Tom Martin. Tru-Vue Film Box Identification
• Tru-Vue Viewers on 20th Century Stereo Viewers.

Competitors

• Tom Martin. Sightseer: True-View's Competitor

• Novelview Viewers on 20th Century Stereo Viewers.

Forgeries

• Tom Martin. True-View: Tru-Vue's Cousin Over the Pond
• True-View Viewers on 20th Century Stereo Viewers.
• Viewer Clones on 20th Century Stereo Viewers.