Radex Stereo Viewer
United States, 1940s
Radex Stereo of Culver City, California produced a couple versions of a lightweight plastic stereo viewer that were both available in different colors. The design of the viewer was inexpensive and simple enough to be used for a variety of 3D purposes: children’s entertainment, adult entertainment and advertising. This same style viewer could also be found marketed under different names — for example, the Kent stereo viewer.
Primary Material: Plastic
Media Format: Slide mounted film chip
Light Source: Natural light
Focus: Fixed
Interocular: Fixed
Radex-Gem: Original Radex Viewer Design
The original Radex 3D viewer has cylindrical barrels, clear diffusers and a small open window between the barrels. We’ve seen it in black, maroon, and red. This is the viewer originally found with the Radex Stereo Story sets.
Radex: Stereo Story
One of the more commercially successful applications of the Radex 3D Viewer was the Radex Stereo Story. These were mostly fairy tales, nursery rhymes and biblical stories played out over a set of 6 stereo slides. This set is one of Radex’s early 3D story volumes, featuring Little Red Riding Hood and the original Radex viewer. The design of the slides are different than later versions.
Radex: Stereo Stories Order Form
This Radex order form shows that stereo stories could be purchased as a standalone set of 6 slides without a viewer or purchased bundled with a viewer. Larger sets were available: the “Duo” with two stories and the “Treasure Chest” with four stories.
Radex "Duo" Stereo Stories with Streamlined Viewer
This example of the “Duo” Stereo Stories set shows the second, more streamlined version of the Radex viewer with tapered barrels, opaque white diffusers and no window between the barrels.
Other "Radex" Viewer Sets
We mentioned that Radex viewers were also used for adult entertainment and advertising. Since Radex viewers don’t actually have any branding on them, we can’t say for sure that the viewers in these specialty sets were actually purchased from Radex or were some other clone.
