This is one of those commercials that makes you stop and say, “Wait… is that who I think it is?”
In 1971, GAF ran a View-Master commercial starring Henry Fonda, of all people, giving the toy a grandfatherly stamp of approval. Sitting with the kids is a very young Jodie Foster, years before Taxi Driver, Freaky Friday, The Accused, and Silence of the Lambs. Some postings also identify one of the boys as Christopher Knight, better known to TV kids as Peter Brady.
The ad is pure early ’70s View-Master magic: kids gathered around, clicking through those little reels, while Henry Fonda explains the wonder of seeing pictures in 3-D. Before home video, before tablets, before YouTube, this was how a kid could “visit” Disney, see TV characters, travel the world, or look at dinosaurs from the living room floor.
A fun fact: View-Master had been around since 1939, long before it became mostly thought of as a children’s toy. Under GAF, the reels leaned more into kid-friendly subjects like cartoons, TV shows, and entertainment tie-ins.
Another fun fact: Jodie Foster was already a seasoned child performer by this point. She began working as a child model and actress in the 1960s, so this commercial came before her big teen fame in the mid-1970s.
