FAIRHOPE, Ala. – Go to a tall building's observation deck and look around. Or go to a national park and take a look at someplace you want to see more closely.

Chances are, you'll find a SeeCoast product.

SeeCoast of Fairhope makes coin-operated and free-use binoculars and telescopes that are found at attractions throughout the United States and in more than 80 locations outside the United States.

The History Channel will feature SeeCoast and its products Friday, Nov. 12 at 8 p.m. on its “Modern Marvels” program.

Company owner Geoffrey Cain isn't sure why the History Channel decided to feature SeeCoast products but this is the company's 50th year in business, and it does seem that wherever you go, you'll find a viewer from SeeCoast or one of their competitors.

So how did this get started?

“My father, Ken, was into and interested in everything,” said Geoffrey Cain, the company’s president. Cain mentioned that his late father was involved with the power company in Fairhope and had many other interests.

“Dad bought some (telescopes or binoculars) from a Mr. Dyson. He wanted something he could do with my brother and me, so Ken put them at the foot of a pier in Pensacola.”

The concession was a hit, and after paying their portion to the landowners and other interests, the Cains were making 30 cents a day from the machines. Yes, the machines had to be emptied once a month or so, but the machines were at nice outdoor places and Cain said it seemed like a holiday to the family.

But, all the interests and businesses were taking their toll on Cain's father.

“He worked too hard and he was a smoker,” said Cain. “He finally said that if he had a bunch of these things he could take it easier.”

The economics were simple. The viewers were relatively simple to make (there were no patents on them) and Cain said that the machines would be paid off after two years.

“I could go and fish a lot,” Cain recalls his father saying.

The trouble was, there were not too many of the viewers on the market. And buying one would cut into the profits and make the whole thing unworkable.

So, Cain, an Organic School graduate, dropped out of college with a semester to go and, “Learned to draft things. I fell in love with the business.” Father and son, who Cain says, “Became very good friends,” started working.

He says that they copied a viewer already on the market. But instead of using “mild steel,” which is prone to rusting, theirs was built of metal that would withstand salt air. Cain mentioned with pride that one of the original models, almost 47 years old, is still working at Disneyworld in Orlando, Fla.

“It works like it was brand new,” he said.

Cain used his training as a psychologist to see how long the viewer should be open. Ninety seconds seemed to be ideal.

“We set up some viewers with different times, and much longer than 90 seconds, people get bored.”

They made four in their first year.

Cain recalls him and his father loading viewers on the top of a Nash Rambler and heading out to Florida.

“We slept in the car,” recalled Cain, adding that his mother would pack meals for him and his father. “That is the way the business was born.”

Today, there are SeeCoast viewers all over the United States and around the world. Cain says there were SeeCoast viewers on top of the World Trade Center when it was destroyed by terrorists in 2001.

SeeCoast has also started “powder coating” items for others. This is a process where finely ground particles of color pigment and resin are electrostatically charged and sprayed onto the item to be coated. The item goes into an oven where the particles melt and form a durable finish. The process is one that the company uses to protect their viewers.

“It has proven to be a nice side business for us,” said Cain.

“It's a unique product,” said Jennifer Johnson, sales and marketing manager for the company. One of her favorite places where SeeCoast viewers are set up is Cheaha state park in Dothan, Ala.

Shop Foreman Mike Lambert takes a more prosaic view of the company.

“It lets people see things up close that they could not get to.” He added that the company makes 200-300 viewers a year and refurbishes viewers it has already sold.

“Our name is on all of them,” said Cain, saying that lessees and owners are asked to send a picture of the machines back to Fairhope every two years.“I want to make sure they are all looking good.”