Re: surprising store display

[jweiler@xxxxxxx (John Weiler)]

A few years ago the Rockport Shoe Company came up with the idea of
providing their dealers (at a price) with a well-made reproduction
stereoscope on a stand.  Included was a set of (I believe) 6
high-quality color litho stereoviews of shoes (surprise).  The idea was
that customers could look through the viewer at the various styles of
shoes and get so enthused they'd buy some shoes, I guess.  As new
styles of shoes were produced new sets of cards would be sent to the
dealers (but I'm not sure this ever happened).

I don't remember how I found out about this viewer, but I quickly
dashed over to a local Rockport dealer and examined the viewer and
cards and decided that I'd like to add this to my collection.  The
salesman said their model wasn't for sale, and they couldn't get any
more, and didn't think I could either.  Not detered that easily, I
called Rockport's toll-free number and explained what I was after.  The
customer service rep hadn't heard of this promotion and didn't know if
these scopes could be sold to the public, and said he would investigate
and call me back.  Much to my amazement, about an hour later he did
indeed call with name, address, and price ($50).  I immediately sent
off a check for two scopes, and a couple of weeks later I returned home
from the office to discover two surprisingly large boxes on my porch.
Included were the nicely made stereoscope, a boxed set of cards,
and explaining the large size of the boxes were the bonus items: a
block of wood to which was attached a brass nameplate with the Rockport
logo, and no less then two nicely finished stands of different sizes on
which to display shoes!  I have yet to find a use for these, but
they're far to nice to discard!

I probably still have the information at home I used to order this set,
but chances are they were all sold at the time of the original promotion
or the remainder was discarded.  But who knows?  Maybe the leftovers are
still in storage and they'd love to unload them cheap.  I should look
into this.  

I do know that some people had luck getting their Rockport dealers to
sell/give them the stereoscope after the promotion ended.  It might be
worthwhile to check with your local dealer, especially if you're a customer.

Van Cort was at that time a manufacturer of reproduction optical devices.
I wonder if they still might have some in their warehouse?   And I would
like to know if additional sets of cards were ever produced.  At my local
dealer the original views eventually vanished and I didn't see any
replacements appear.  As delivered the scope is chained to the stand so
it couldn't walk off very easily, but the cards would have been easily
pocketable.  The set of cards is a great advertising item.

I consider the Rockport stereoscope more an attractive display piece and collectible than an everyday viewer.  I don't recall anything about the
quality of the optics right now since I haven't looked through mine in ages,
but I do remember that the unprotected edge of the brass hood didn't feel
good against my forehead!

John
  


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