Looking back

August 1950

The quest for 3D images has a long history, even if the technology had a different name decades ago. Back then it was called stereophotography and was dependent on photography tricks instead of electronic circuits. Among the best of the equipment we tested was the Stereo Realist camera, a 35-mm miniature equipped with matched lenses. The camera took matching squarish pictures, which could then be mounted and placed in a viewer, illuminated by a battery-run flashlight bulb. The total cost of the camera, mounting kit, and viewer was $211.75, or more than $1,900 in today’s money.

In quotes

“The old-fashioned stereoscopes that presented famous scenes in threedimensional reality were at one time as much a part of the parlor picture as the radio or TV set now is.”

August 1970

If you needed a simple way to add electrical outlets to your home, manufacturers offered up extension wiring systems as an upgrade to traditional extension cords. Our tests found two that were capable of providing a heavy-duty threewire grounded system and were rated for 20 amps, the Electrostrip and the Wards Rigid Plug-In Strip. The downside: They had to be connected directly to the house wiring, so you might have needed an electrician anyway.

In quotes

“Extension cords are unsightly and, more important, unsafe. For one thing, it’s tempting to hook up too many appliances to one cord.”