Re: Homescope?

[P3D <bjay@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Meterless Mike Amundson wrote:

>recently at an antique store I saw a small device called a
>Homesscope.  It was not typical 3-d but gave interesting
>results.  Basically, it appeared to be a small wooden case
>with a small parabolic mirror (or concave perhaps) on the
>inside.  When the case was opened, one could place a picture
>postcard opposite the mirror and then, when one looked over
>the postcard into the mirror, the angle of the mirror gave
>a sort-of three dimensional effect.  The ordinary postcard
>seemed to have depth.  Has anyone seen one of these before
>and can anybody suggest a price?

It seems very likely that what you saw was a "SHOMESCOPE",
phonetically "show me scope".  Possibly the one you saw had
the first "S" worn off.

These tend to give a feeling of depth because image
distortion by the simple concave mirror makes the center of
the picture look farther away than the edges.

Similar viewers for 35mm slides were offered in the 50's
and 60's (approximately) by Sawyers (or maybe GAF) and Sears.
Some of them even had battery powered (non-krypton)
illumination.

I'm not sure what they are worth.  I paid about $5.00 each
for mine, but that was over 20 years ago.  If I didn't have
one, I'd pay quite a bit more now.  If I had to, that is,
I've seen them offered for all sorts of prices (but not
very often).

Ben Melton        bjay@xxxxxxxx



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