Spartakiada

The 1960 Spartakiada-Prague's Mass-Gymnastics Spectacle in 3-D

Oktober 9th 2025

(see pictures below)

This reel is a time machine to Cold War Czechoslovakia. I'm auctioning a rare KLAD Plastikolor stereo reel titled "II. Celostatni Spartakiada CSR"-the Second National Spartakiad of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, held in 1960. It's a seven-frame burst of color, choreography, and crowd electricity from the world's biggest stadium of the day, Prague's Strahov.

For the uninitiated: Spartakiada wasn't a single competition; it was a state-choreographed festival of "physical culture"-tens of thousands of citizens moving in unison across a football-field-sized canvas. Think precision pageantry more than sports: geometric formations that bloom and dissolve, props tossed into the air in perfect arcs, folk costumes and athletic uniforms colliding in a kaleidoscope of national mythmaking. According to the original sleeve that comes with this reel, 775,000 participants took part across the country, and the finale-memorably titled "Life Triumphs Over Death"-put 30,000 women on the field at once. You can feel those numbers in these pictures.

What's on the reel?

This Plastikolor disc gives you seven stereo views, each a different "beat" from the program:

Folk-costume procession: young performers sweep forward with raised arms, skirts striped in Moravian colors, flags riding the stadium rim. The crowd in the stands looks like a living mosaic behind them.
Red balls in flight: a sea of students in yellow tops and aqua skirts throw crimson spheres that hover mid-air when seen in 3-D-pure stereoscopic joy.
Women in red leotards: rhythmic-gymnastics lines radiate across the cinder field; in 3-D you read the spacing and the depth between performers beautifully.
Bare-chested calisthenics: endless ranks of men lunge in unison; the stereo effect stretches the formation far into the distance.
Parade columns: rows of men in vests stand at attention, arms raised-a classic Spartakiad "grid" that really rewards the View-Master's binocular pop.
White-uniform set piece: front rank sharp as a pin, background dissolving into hundreds of matching figures-this one might be my favorite for pure depth.
Banner tableau: a stage-center bloom of red flags rises above a frame of blue squares-prop work designed to read from the back row, and in stereo it sings.

If you're used to American View-Master travel reels-Mount Rushmore, Disneyland, that sort of thing-this is a different kind of time capsule. It's not about places you can go; it's about a state-produced vision of modern community, youth, and order. Whatever you think of the politics, as stereophotography it's spectacular.

Plastikolor vs. View-Master: what's the deal?

This disc wasn't made by Sawyer's/GAF. It was made by KLAD (Kladno), under the Plastikolor label-Czechoslovakia's domestic answer to View-Master. There are some delightful differences collectors will appreciate:

Construction: instead of a thin aluminum "sandwich" wrapped in card, Plastikolor used a varnished metal disc with a paper center label. It feels sturdy in the hand and looks fabulous on display.

Branding details: the label here reads "PLASTIKOLOR 016 - II. CS. 1960 - PRAHA"; the sleeve front carries the same 1960 graphic treatment and the product number. The sleeve back is a mini-poster with bold blocks of Czech text touting the stats and that finale title.

Original viewer: Plastikolor made its own stereoscope, but this reel works in a standard View-Master viewer. Pop it in and you're good-no special hardware required. (If you own a KLAD viewer, of course, even better for the period vibe.)

Series note: Plastikolor issued three Spartakiada reels; the one on offer is the second in the series-perfect on its own and even better as part of a set.

In short: it's close enough to View-Master to live happily in your collection, but different enough to be a conversation piece.

Click here to check out the ebay listing. Auction ends on October 19th 2025.