Stereoscopic viewer, made in Berlin c.1950s
I bought this stereoscopic viewer in Berlin at a fantastic vintage shop called VEB Orange. VEB Orange is dedicated to showcasing East Germany of the 50s, 60s and 70s. That is my kind of shop!
The viewer – with its images of Baden Baden- was made as souvenirware. If you couldn’t visit the place, at least you could go with the help of kitschy, hand-coloured photographic images. Perhaps there is a slight intimation of boredom- that Baden Baden isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and really East Berlin is much more scenic! Even the colour of the viewer is deliberately drab [although somewhat funky in shape.]
I like souvenirware- snowdomes, and those little TV sets that you peer into with a rotating wheel of images. No matter how many images you take whilst travelling- nothing can compare to the cliqued, static, dated and hilarious images of souvenirware.
re:retro 