Now You See It, Now You Don't!
TellZall's object for January is the Stereoscope
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Americans did not have many of the technologies that we have today. If we want education or entertainment, we can turn on the television, watch a movie, surf the internet on our computers, play games on our Playstation or X-Box, or listen to music on our Ipod or cd player. None of these options existed for people living in the Victorian era. In addition, most people were not able to travel to other parts of the country or the world on vacation. They were often curious about places that they had not seen. The stereoscope fulfilled the role that newer technologies fulfill for us today. Many Americans owned a stereoscope, as well as numerous photographic cards covering a range of topics. They used the stereoscope for entertainment and to learn more about the world around them.
So what actually is a stereoscope? It is a piece of equipment that allows someone to view a three-dimensional photograph. Special cameras with two lenses would take a picture of a scene. Two photographs would be created, with very minor differences. These two photographs were then mounted on a card, and the card could be inserted in the stereoscope. When a person looked through the lenses of the stereoscope, the two photographic images would merge into one, creating the appearance of a three-dimensional scene. Basically, the stereoscope imitates what our two eyes and brain do every day. Our eyes see two different pictures, but our brains merge those two pictures into one so that we can understand what we are looking at.
Sir Charles Wheatstone invented the first stereoscopic viewer in 1833. The early stereoscopes used hand-drawn or etched pictures, as photography did not exist yet. The technology was extremely limited at first, but it began to improve as photography was added to the process. The early stereoscopes were both large and expensive. They had to be mounted to a table or desk and were not portable. In the 1860s and 1870s, hand-held stereoscopes were introduced to the market, making the item less expensive and more accessible to people.
Companies began to sell a wide variety of stereoscopic cards for the viewers. Americans could satisfy their curiosity about exotic far-off places, as well as look at architecture and landscapes from around the United States. Cards were produced that covered major events as well, such as presidential inaugurations, the world’s fair, and even battlefield scenes.
As movie theaters and other forms of modern entertainment became more popular, interest in stereoscopes died out. By the 1920s, most Americans chose to listen to the radio or watch a movie rather than viewing stereoscopic images. In recent years, more and more people have become interested in this historic form of entertainment. People travel to auctions and antique stores looking for old stereoscope viewers and cards.
