Tangible Media: Removable Storage of Image, Sound, Motion and Data
Tangible Media: Removable Storage of Image, Sound, Motion and Data
Tangible Media: Removable Storage of Image, Sound, Motion and Data
Channels
Robins 1-2-3D

Artist:

Herman D. Post (inventor)

Date:

1962

Material:

Plastic, metal hardware

Dimensions:

Print 3½ × 4¼ in. (89 × 108 mm)

Company:

Robins Industries Corp.

Location:

New York, United States

A folding viewer for stereo prints taken with a beam-splitter attachment for Polaroid cameras. Herman D. Post, listed as the inventor in the 1962 design patent (Post 1962), started Robins Industries in the 1950s. The company was better known for its accessories for magnetic tape recording, including tape erasers, head degaussers and a tape splicer branded as the "Gibson Girl", so-named because the shape of the splice suggested a narrow waist. It seems Post was a bit of a character, as further evidenced by an article in the New York Times about his use of humor in annual reports (Metz 1975, 63). The company continued to receive patents into the late 1970s, but disappeared in the early 1980s when it merged with something called Rilco Equities Corp.

The camera attachment was also marketed (perhaps wishfully) as a "2 for 1 film saver" for Polaroid camera owners—the beam splitter shown below explains how to take two different photographs on one print by alternately covering and uncovering the mirrors of attachment.

Instructions (PDF)

Stereo Viewer. US Design Patent 196,338.
References
⌃  Back to citationMetz, Robert. 1975. A Change in the Annual Report. The New York Times, Tuesday, Apr. 15, 1975.
⌃  Back to citationPost, Herman D. 1962. Stereo Viewer. US Design Patent 196,338, filed July 12, 1962. [A design patent protects only the ornamental design of the item, not its functionality].