Why did people use stereoviews in the 19th century?
In the United States, stereoviews allowed people living on the East Coast to see the West Coast, and vice versa. By the latter half of the 19th century, many towns had their own resident stereoview photographer, which means there were plenty of local subjects available for people with stereoscopes to go with the images of far-off lands.
Who was the largest publisher of stereoviews?
Several companies emerged as publishers and distributors of stereoviews on every imaginable subject, the biggest and most successful in the United States being the Keystone View Company of Meadville, Pennsylvania. The most prolific maker of views, however, was probably the London Stereoscope Company, founded in the early 1850s.
Who was the inventor of the stereograph viewer?
In 1859 Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (his son was the Supreme Court judge) invented a handheld stereograph viewer which was later manufactured by Joseph L. Bates in Massachusetts. These antique stereographs are highly sought-after today.
Why was the stereoscope a form of entertainment?
Because the stereoscope preceded the publication of photographs in newspapers and magazines, stereo viewers were seen as forms of entertainment. People would pass around the stereoscope and see all sorts of beautiful scenes that they otherwise might never have been introduced to.
In the United States, stereoviews allowed people living on the East Coast to see the West Coast, and vice versa. By the latter half of the 19th century, many towns had their own resident stereoview photographer, which means there were plenty of local subjects available for people with stereoscopes to go with the images of far-off lands.
Several companies emerged as publishers and distributors of stereoviews on every imaginable subject, the biggest and most successful in the United States being the Keystone View Company of Meadville, Pennsylvania. The most prolific maker of views, however, was probably the London Stereoscope Company, founded in the early 1850s.
Because the stereoscope preceded the publication of photographs in newspapers and magazines, stereo viewers were seen as forms of entertainment. People would pass around the stereoscope and see all sorts of beautiful scenes that they otherwise might never have been introduced to.
In 1859 Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (his son was the Supreme Court judge) invented a handheld stereograph viewer which was later manufactured by Joseph L. Bates in Massachusetts. These antique stereographs are highly sought-after today.
