The Russians were know for making blatant copies of Western goods and stereo viewers were no exception.

A Leningrad viewer, probably dating to the 1960's

The stereoscope below was manufactured in Russia and is an almost exact copy of the French Bruguiere Model 11 Stereoclic viewer. It is every bit as good as the original French model on which it was based. Even the slide advance mechanism is the same, with the viewer having an advance lever on both sides so the slide can be moved both forward and backwards. The Russian viewer is slightly heavier than it's French equivalent, weighing in at 182g as opposed to the French viewers 165g.

Search for Stereo Viewers

Here the French and Russian viewers can be seen, side by side, demonstrating their similarity.

The slides that came with this viewer have the makers name, Leningrad, embossed in the cardboard in Russian, but no other markings. They show scenes from Leningrad (St. Petersburg today) of large buildings and monuments, as well as streets scenes with traffic.

Anitchkov Bridge
 

Nevski Prospect
(St. Petersburg's main street)

The makers name from the viewer is also embossed on the slides, it translates to LENINGRAD
(thanks to Bjarne for the translations)

A bakelite Russian Stereo Viewer known as a Leningrad

This viewer probably dates back to the 1950's and is an almost exact copy of the French Colorelife viewer. The only significant differences being the size of the light apertures and the method of retaining the windows and the manufacturer's markings.

The translation of the markings on this viewer read,
"(OMZ) Optico-Mechanical Factory - Leningrad - Made in USSR"

Return to Homepage

This website including all photographs and text contained herein are copyright of www.viewmaster.co.uk © 2012   
No part of this site may be copied without express authorisation of the owner - All rights reserved