;TIONAL STEREC - -: ASSOCIATIONWHITE MOUNTAINS TOURTO FOLLOW
1984 NSA CONVENTIONNew England - where stereoscopes and stereo views
became household words and family diversions in the 19th
century - will host the 1984NSA Convention and Trade
Fair in August at the Sheratonwayfarer Inn and Convention Center, ManchesterlBedford, NH. Convention
activities will run from Thursday evening, August 16,
through Sunday morning, August 19, with a postconvention White Mountains tour beginning Sunday
morning and returning to the Sheraton Monday evening,
August 20.
Plans for the Convention and registration forms arecontained in the inserts distributed with this issue of
Stereo World. The Convention planners, who constitutethe New England Region 1984 Convention Cabinet, include Laurance Wolfe, Chairman, Donato Bracco, PaulWing, Robert Brackett, Richard Russack, Robert Kroeger,
Richard Hamilton and Robin Wheeler. T.K. Treadwell,
President of NSA, is an ex-officio member.
Recognizing how well past NSA meetings have met theneeds of stereo view collectors, stereographers, exhibitors
and all the specialists who converge on the NSA Convention, the planners have gone all out to match the success of the past. A stimulating program of presentations
covering the art, science and history of three-dimensional
photography is being organized under the leadership of
NSA Director Paul Wing. Richard Russack, an NSA
founder, heads up the auction. He promises a Spotlight
Auction that will be highly attractive to collectors anddealers alike.
'This will be a stepped-up auction in terms of the qualityof the items offered and of the time allotted,'' says Rick.
"We're shooting for quality that will enhance collections
andlor provide an upgrading of merchandise to the collectors and dealers making winning bids."
New to NSA, although New England and other regions
have experimented with the idea, is a field trip to encourage stereographers and nature lovers to enjoy andphotograph notable scenic areas within easy access of theConvention site. Richard Hamilton, a connoisseur andresident of the White Mountains area, has arranged a field
trip which includes such well-known landmarks as the"Old Man of the Mountain", the Flume, the Mt. Washington Cog Railway and other points of interest which thecollector of vintage stereos will recognize. The tour of theWhite Mountains, beginning by motorcoach Sunday
morning August 19, will include an overnight stay in
Littleton, NH, home of the Kilburn brothers. Return to
the Manchester area is planned by 6 P.M. Additional information concerning the tour is available from Dick
Hamilton, 61 Cottage Street, Littleton, NH 03561. Reservations will be accepted on a first-come first-served basis.
Accommodations in this resort area are limited, hence
reservations must be received by May 1.
Neither last nor least will be a Trade Fair designed tobring together top dealers in stereographica with those
who combine interest in stereo views with stereo hard-ware and first-class photographic equipment and images.
The registration fee for the Convention is $12.50 tomembers, $15.00 to non-members. This includes admission to all Convention events but the Banquet and theWhite Mountains Tour. Included are Exhibits, Presentations, Trade Fair, Spotlight Auction and Reception. In addition, pre-Convention registrants will receive a personalized, collectible Convention souvenir and will be entitled
to Early-Bird admission to the Trade Fair, otherwise
costing $12.00.
The Tour cost will be $110per person, based on double
occupancy.This includes transportation, overnight lodgng,
two meals and admission to at least three scenic rides.
Stereoscopic exhibits by members of NSA and New
Hampshire historical groups will be in evidence. A prize
will be awarded to the most outstanding exhibit.
A reception on Friday evening and a banquet on
Saturday evening are planned to promote fellowshipamong stereophiles from across the nation and from allparts of the world.
Members and friends are invited to submit exhibit
material and to participate in the auction by consigning
quality items. Contributed items, sale of which would
benefit NSA, are also earnestly solicited.Information concerning these matters may be obtained from Laurance
Wolfe, Box 62, North Sutton, NH 03260, or by phone fromDonato Bracco, 617-369-8347.
To assist the Convention Cabinet in preparing Convention events, attendees are urged to give priority toconsignment of auction items, registration for the White
Mountains Tour and offering of exhibit items. Likewise,
dealers wishing to reserve table space at the Trade Fairshould make their needs known at the earliest possible
date.
Donato Bracco
Laurance Wolfe
26 January 1984
1984 NSA Convention Co-Chairmen

Copyright O 1984 By the

NATIONAL STEREOSCOPIC ASSOCIATIONISSN 0191 - 4030

VOL. 11, NO. 1

IN THIS ISSUE
Golden Glasses Awarded Best/Worst 3-D Movies ............. 2
Seven Billion Windows on the World View-Master Then and Now ................................. 4
by John Dennls

The BK Diableries.. .........................................22
by Paul Wing

An Early History of the NSA and Stereo World.. ............... 25
by John Waldsrn~th

Reprint of Vol. 1, No. 1 Stereo World.. ........................ 27
Hints to Collectors ..........................................47
by T K . Treadwell-

Basics of Preservation Part IV - Restoration ................. 48
by Christine Young

The Talisman Press Catalog. ................................. 50

MAR./APR. 1984

Board of Directors
CHAIRMAN Louis H. Smaus
MEMBERS Paul Wing and T.K. Treadwell
Officers
PRESIDENT T.K. Treadwell
EDITOR, STEREO WORLD John Dennis
SECRETARY John Weiler
TREASURER Linda S. Carter
VICE-PRESIDENT FOR REGIONAL AFFAIRSTom Rogers
VICE-PRESIDENT FOR MEMBERSHIP
Laurance G. Wolfe
ART DIRECTOR Richard B. McClellan
CONTEMPORARY STEREOSCOPY DavidStarkman, William Shepard and Paul Wing
PUBLICATIONS Jack and Pat Wilburnby Peter E Palmquist

STEREO WORLD 1s published blnionlhly by thp Nal~onal

Do Insects See Stereo?. ...................... Inside Back CoverSlereoscopic Assoc~atlonInc Box 14801. Columbus Ohlo
43214 USA Annualdues $20~3rdclassUS$27~1stclassUS
Canada and lorelgn surlace $37-lnternallonal alr mall All
memberships are based on the publ~shlngyear of Slrrco
World whtch beg~nsIn March and ends wlth !he Jan /Feh
Issue of the nexl year All new mentbershlps r e c e ~ v r dwillcommence w ~ l hthe MarchIAprll ssue ollhe currenlcalPndar
year W r ~ l eto Ihe above addrrss I the back Issues of thecurrent volume are not deslred

REGULAR FEATURES
Editor's View ............................................... 2
Comment.. ................................................. 3
Personalities in Perspective Gideon Welles. ................. 39
Newviews .................................................. 40
The Society From The Society Notebook ................... 52
Thrills That Almost Touch You.. .............................. 54
Review.. ...................................................55
The Unknowns .............................................56
Holmes Library Report ......................................58
Events .....................................................59
Classified ..................................................60-

Mater~aln lhls publ~calton(nay not b r reproduced wlthoul
wrllten oermlsslon ol Ihe NSA Inc-

MEMBER, INTERNATIONAL STEREOSCOPIC UNION.

@

COVER: The original View-Master "Model A"
with early reels. Included are two of thefirst styleon blue
stock with gold labels. The envelopes shown are theoriginal gold style and other reels are the more common
early yellow stock. For more on Vim-Master, see thisissue's feature, "Smen Billion Windowson the World Viewmaster Then and Now" by John Dennis.

"GOLDEN GLASSES"
FOR BESTIWORST 3-D FILMS

Editor's View
Ten years doesn't seem like a vast span of history -until
you ask a ten year old! With this special issue, the NSA
and STEREO WORLD are exactly one decade old. This
makes us something of a "village elder" in the realm ofphotography oriented volunteer groups and publications.
We have reached this point only because so many people
contributed their time, work, money, knowledge andcreative talents to various NSA projects during those
vears. The work load on some individuals has at times
been tremendous-and their continuing efforts provethat like the threedimensional images that involved us allin the first place, there is some special element of depth topeople's interest in the goals of the NSA.
Rather than attempt a list that would almost certainly
be incomplete, the staff decided thank everyone at once inthe best way wecould think of: with a promise tocontinuebuilding the organization and the magazine in ways thatwill inspire moredecades worth of volunteer efforts from
more members.
Besides a complete reprint of Volume 1Number 1, thisissue contains an expanded version of Paul Wing's article
on the famous French tissue series,"The B.K. Diableries",
originally published in Volume 1 Number 4 with limited
illustration of the fascinating views. There are a number ofarticles like this from early issues worthy of being updated,
and this will be attempted as space allows.
O u r expanded issue also includes a somewhat overdue
feature on View-Master- the only mass market sourceof stereo images functioning in the U.S. for many years.
The subject is a full and complex one with a wealth ofrecent and current details available, as is evident from thearticle's length. With the help of interested collectors andphotographers, more information about the history andproducts of View-Master International Group Inc. (as it's
now known) will appear in future issues. As some connected with the story have said, "there's enough for ab o o k and one retired employee is collecting material forjust such a possible project.
-John Dennis

The results of ~ o v e m b e r l ~ e c e r n b3-D
e~'~movie poll
are in, and NSA members voted "Amityville 3 - D theBEST 3-D film of the past three years. "Parasite" wasvoted WORST in a close vote that saw some films receive
nearly equal totals for best and worst ("Comin At Ya" and"Metalstorm" for instance). Others, like "Space Hunter"got relatively few votes for either extreme category.
"Amityville 3-D" stood out with more "best" votes thanmost other films got in either column and only one vote as"worst". "Jaws 3 - D w a s a close second for best and "Treasure of the 4 Crowns" for worst.
Many people commented on the poor projection intheaters where they saw the films as a factor making a fairchoice difficult, although most also noted that even the"best" of the recent 3-D movies were, in the words of one
member, "the best of a bad lot". Several people wishedthat movies like "House of Wax" or "Dial M for Murder"
could be made currently with the supposedly superior
formats and equipment now available.The general feelingwas that the combination of poor acting, scripts, production
values and projection will kill the current wave of 3-D
productions even faster than that of the 1950s. Commenting on the low-key lighting used in so many recent
3-D films (combined with poor projection) Don Marren
wrote; "Frankly, right now I11 take the dumbness of "Gorillaat Large" and "Wings of the H a w k any day. At least you
can see what's going on the screen."
The GOLDEN GLASSES awards themselves are giant
size replicas of 3-D movie glasses on gold cardboard. The
award for the BEST 3-D movie comes with clear plastic
lenses, while the glasses for the WORST movie are
equipped with dense, grey image diffusers. The awards
will be presented to the producers of the films along witha selection of quotes from NSA members and STEREOWORLD articles relating to both the problems and potential of 3-D films.
If the poll proved anything, it illustrated the difficulty of
judging films so similar in what they lack and in theirtreatment of most theaters. More than a couple of wellknown film critics have taken to saying of any really bad
film, "It might as well have been made in 3-D!" With thatkind of attitude more common than ever, we face a widening gap between the concepts inherent in the term "3-Dmovies" vs. those in "stereoscopic cinema". As that gap
grows, the difference becomes more actual and the chancesof a n y sort of 3-D films being produced become more rare.

Comment
HAYNES RAILROAD BOOKIn addition to the Book "F. Jay Haynes Photographer"which contains many of his stereoviews, the Montana
State Historical Society has also published a recent booktitled "Northern Pacific Views -The Railroad Photographyof F. Jay Haynes 1876-1905". Although liberally illustrated
with photos of railroad construction, locomotives, depots,
scenics and pictures of Haynes, none are stereo pairs as in
the other book. Library of Congress number is ISBN
0-917298-11-X and the price is $24.95.
Ron Fredrickson
Kenosha, WI

listings over tocharlie Ilgenfritz, it being his determination
to own his own computer and there accrue the titles andeventually turn the entire aggregation over to the Holmes
Library - hopefully giving a little meaning to the hundredsof hours we have devoted to the work. This is to givenotice that I am now in the secondary position of the search,
Charlie taking the primary, and to also express gratitude
to each and every one of you who helped generate thelists.
Robert Wright
Ashland, OR

FRAZEE MACROS SUPPORT NSA

3-D DOTS

By selling some of my macro stereo slides, I raised somemoney for the NSA at the February Photo Fair in San
Jose. The Photo Fair is an annual trade show with about
200 tables. Lou Smaus and I each had a table, with a tablebetween us filled with NSA literature and copies of
STEREO WORLD. I set up a rotary viewer showing
some of my macro slides and a tray of them with a signoffering them for sale at $1.00 each with proceeds going
the NSA. I sold 55 slides, and I feel this is a good way toraise money for the NSA that others should consider.
If anyone would like some of my macro slides, I would
be happy to send you five of them if you would thencontribute $5.00 directly to the NSA. (I would rather nothandle the money.) I have several hundred slides that I
would part with. These are originals, not duplicates.
Howard Frazee
1621 Pinehurst Dr.
CA 94022
Los

My family enjoys STEREO WORLD immensely. I
personally am pleased with your plans for expansion of
the magazine. I would like to extend a positive suggestion,
I hope, on improving the quality of your publications'photo reproductions. When viewed with a standing typeviewer, the dot pattern (magnified by most viewers) is very
distracting and takes away from some spectacular views.
Please insist that whomever is screening your photos
switch to a finer screen size. Any improvement would bemuch appreciated.
Jonne Goeller,
Eugene, OR

KEYSTONE TITLE SEARCHCOMPUTERIZED
I would likeall thegood friend contributors of Keystone
titles in times past to know that I have turned a copy of myEver since Steven Schwartzman's Stereo Infrared books appeared a
few years ago, people have realized just how much is possible in the
reproduction of stereo prints. A laser scanner was used to produce a 280
line screen on the black and grey duotone reproductions at a specialized
arinter. S T E R E O W O R L D is limited not only- by- money, but by thefact that maintaining good tone and contrast in many of the vintage
views limits us to 133 to 150 lines per inch with normal camera
half-tones. A n d besides, under a viewer, even those elegant scanner dots
are quite visible.
- Ed.

SCALE MODEL STEREOSCOPE of-

-

,
dk&

"*

*

2.
P8"fak

i
E

,- .

63

fers an interesting contrast to lastissue's article on the "World's Largest"stereoscope. This tiny viewer is partof a kit for a doll house parlor table
and includes several matching views
to lay beside it. The view was sent in
by R.L. O'Nan of Albuquerque, NM,
who comments, "I feel it shows how
much a part of American life thestereo viewer was at the turn of the
century. The stamp is included for
relative size."AN IDEA & A WISH

I

I

Visiting the Oregon Caves in the summer of 1938,
William and Norma Gruber had arrived at the final pointof the tour where the guide invited people to rub a "wishingstone" just before returning to the bright daylight ofsouthern Oregon. Norma Gruber stopped to rub thestone after her husband, a practical minded Portland piano
tuner and amateur stereo pl 3tographer, had walked on
past the polished stone. He lrned and asked, "What do
you think you'redoing?""l'm just wishing that something
would happen to your idea!" she told him.

The Chateau ot ( Ir1:y11t1

III

I Q . : , ~ - . T L ? . 1 / I I , ~ I U I / , //I, (II ,I ,~ I~, I , , I I / / , I , /IIYII

r~stortrl.Frorn rrrl # 9 1.

William Gruber's"idea"involved the use of 16mm Kodachrome movie film in a compact viewer for the inexpensive
mass production of full color stereo transparencies. In thelate 1930s, only a few amateurs like himself had made 3-D
slide pairs on the popular new Kodachrome film. Commercial stereograph production was still limited to black
and white - whether in the remaining Keystone output or
the "modern" 35mm filmstrips from Tru-Vue. Gruber
was an avid stereo enthusiast who had assembled severalof his own paired camera rigs. He was certain that the
combination of color and stereo could be popular andprofitable - if only someone with the needed capital andbusiness base could be found.
With his stereo rig (a tripod-mounted pair of Kodak
Bantam Specials) on his shoulder, William Gruber walked
out of the cave exit and directlv in front of Harold Graves- who was attempting to phc -ograph some deer. Stereo
cameras were just as good for tarting conversations thenas they are now, and instead )f asking Gruber to move,
Graves' question was, "Wha kind of a camera do you
have there?".
Harold Graves was president of Sawyer's, a Portland
photo finishing and post card company in desperate needof a new and profitable business idea. Few details are
known of that first conversation, but Norma Gruber
remembers hearing William say at one point, "Well, you're

4 One of the patcnt drawings for the Modcl A and rccls.

just the person I've been wanting to meet". That evening,
the two men talked long into the night in the Oregon
Caves Chateau, going over details of how 16mm images
could be spaced on a reel at the proper 2% inch separation
for the eyepieces of a simple stereoscope -and how sevenpairs would fit in an alternating sequence that would
repeat without presenting any upside down pictures. Mr.
Graves was impressed enough by the concept and its
potential to waste no time in persuading the Sawyer's
partners that such a system would be an ideal new line for
their company. (William Gruber was later to gladly credit
his wife's timely rub of the stone for all that ensued.)
Sawyer's partner Edwin Mayer borrowed $50,000 froma relative for machinery and supplies to start production.
The company had no money to offer Mr. Gruber for his
idea, so he accepted a percentage of future profits andwent to work designing a machine to mount the tiny
pieces of film in the reels - an essential element in any
commercial mass production of the new stereo transparencies. As a young man in Germany, Gruber had becomea master piano tuner and an expert in the design andrepair of organs and player pianos with their air-activatedlinkages. He applied this kind of precision craftsmanshipto the first "reel machine". With air hoses hissing andcutters and prongs chunking and clicking, workers sataround the machine performing mounting functions thatwould be automated in later versions of the machines thattoday remain the heart of the View-Master reel production
process.
When money ran low, Mr. Gruber would tune a few
more pianos and then return to work on the machine,
telling his wife, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if it madeenough money for two weeks vacation every year?".
Despite their dedicated enthusiasm, it's doubtful that thepeople involved with the View-Master in 1938-39 had any
idea how popular it would become and how many vacations
it would pay for! The original viewer (later dubbed the"Model A ) was first sold with 15 scenic reels on blue stockwith glued on gold labels containing the title and captions.
A few, perhaps a little later, were done on tan-yellow
stock with a blue ring encompassing the scene windows.
The most commonly found of the early reels are thoseon yellow stock with captions printed directly on the reels.
(Some use yellow stock on one side and white on theother.) All reels produced in 1939 and the early 1940s are
printed with hand lettered captions without scene numbers. The blue and yellow reels have only a single notch at
the top, but thereare hand lettered w h i h reels with a single
notch as well as some with double notches. The notches
serve to position reel blanks in the mounting machines,
and later machines were designed with register systems

From a rare color test reel ofthe
aircraft Range Estimation series doneforthe army in World War 11.

William Gruber ulrtlr lrrs rn11c~rrtioni n t l r l , tnrly 1940s

requiring double notches. It's probably safe to assume
that any double notched reel with type-set captions dates
from after 1946, but more precise dating can be difficult.
Reel numbers don't help much, as newly issued reels withsome new scenesof old subjects kept the original number.
The name "View-Master" was apparently chosen bypeople within the Sawyer's organization. William Gruber,according to his widow, hated the name - claiming it sounded
too much like Mixmaster or Toastmaster. He had favoreda more imaginative exotic name, but the easy productidentity inherent in "View-Master" won out. Years later, adelightful vindication of his complaint about the nameoccurred when "Archie"cartoonist Bob Montana was senta promotional View-Master and his young daughter
inserted one of the reels in the Toastmaster!
In late 1939, enough viewers and reels had been produced for the first regular sales of the product to begin in
Portland. The View-Master's introduction to the rest of
the world, however, came when it appeared at the New
York and San Francisco World's Fairs in 1940. Public response to full color stereo in this new format was so
positive that by 1941a thousand dealers around the country
were selling all the viewers and reels that Sawyer's could
produce.

THE W A R YEARS
Sawyer's sudden new growth was cut short by Worla
War 11. Shortages of film, plastic and paper would havecrippled the operation and possibly ended the ViewMaster's existence if the army and navy hadn't recognizedthe visual training potential of View-Master's convenient
viewers and stereo images. Between 1942 and the war's
end, about 100,000 viewers and 5 to 6 million reels wereordered by the military - assuring the plant a supply of
raw materials and maintaining an active work force tohelp prepare for post war production. The training reels
are mostly black and white and deal with ship identification(using models shot on a hazy set) and aircraft gunnery
range estimation reels with rangecircles and model planes
in stereo. In 1943, the Model B vlewer was introduced
featuring a streamlined design, a stronger hinge, andheavierconstruction throughout. (The lightweight Model
A could warp if left in the sun!)With the end of the war, the publicdemand for viewers
and reels exploded - having been kept alive by limited reelproduction and advertising. By 1946 there were "stacks ofrequests" from stores asking to become View-Master
dealers, but none had been added since 1942 because
production couldn't even satisfy the needs of the original
1,000 dealers. Two new buildings were added to Sawyer's
downtown Portland operation and new automated machinv

UI.

opening the front of the viewer. Over the next ten years,
this solid dependable device was distributed around theworld in the millions and served as the basis for the designof all standard models to follow. Compared to any of themodels before or after it the Model C is practically indestrurlblc and a good percentage of these square, m-mnsense
black viewers remain usable today.
--*------

A

a

.rr

2

-

The Model B viewer.
- - -30

Ib
A'I - ."'*sw(~5rras62R."" *?!H_C'W
One ofthe shrp identrficahon reels with target range rnformahon "scenetrtles".

ery was installed for increased production of reels andviewers. The company incorporated in 1946, an export
department was established, and personnel grew to 150
people. At this point, Sawyer's was still one of the leading
producers of postcards and photographic Christmas cards
in the country but the expanding View-Master line wassoon to put an end to those operations.
As early as May, 1946, plans for the creation of aView-Master stereocamera for amateur use was announced
to the press. That same year, Stereocraft Engineering
Company was established as an associated company todesign and produce just that kind of totally new consumer
product as well as specialized manufacturing equipment
for Sawyer's.
That year also saw the introduction of the Model C
viewer - the first to allow insertion of reels without

36

-//

Original patent drawingfor the familiar Model C vrmer. Note thescene
trtle Willlam Gruberchosc to use - " V ~ m p o i n tAstoria,
Oregon"(7he ideal
Vrm-Master t n v ~ aqufition?).

Little Red Riding Hood starts toget the
picture in this sample scene from the story
reel. The set and figures were the uiork of
Florrnce Thomas, uiho uias responsible for
Sau~yer'sstory art for many years. Reel
#DR-8 Boys C Girls Three Dimpnsional
Sample Reel. @ 7 9 5 0 Vieui-Master International Group, Inc.

By the, cnrly 1950s, Sawyer's had sold about 6 million
viewers and production had increased enough to supply
around 6,000 dealerships. In 1952, the then 300 employee
company moved to a complex of new buildings designed
to accommodate such a growing operation in suburban
Progress (near Beaverton), Oregon. The new plant was
something of a showpiece of modern factory constructionof the early 50s, and Sawyer's was one of the early companies to help inspire the creation of suburban "industrial
parks" in years to follow. The new plant eased production
bottlenecks and allowed output to come closer to meeting
demand. Already the largest single consumer of Kodachrome 16mm Duplicating Film, Sawyer's became only
the second firm ever permitted by Kodak to do its own
Kodachrome processing.

in new boxes with the Beaverton address. (These are now
among the most rare of all the Tru-Vue filmstrips. See
STEREO WORLD JulylAugust 1980.)
Tru-Vue was a completely separate operation within
the View-Master plant with its own photo, advertising,and sales staff and different production equipment. TruVue cards even used different film - the then-new Kodak
Print Film using color negative originals rather than duplicating transparencies. With the help of Tru-Vue, Sawyer's
was able for a few more years to maintain its concentration
on scenic and educational subjects and its "image" as aserious successor to the classic stereoscope. Children's
stories and cartoon characters continued to appear, ofcourse, on reels and by the late 1950s were a significant
part of View-Master's whole line.

TRU-VUECAMERAS AND PROJECTORS

When Sawyer's purchased the Tru-Vue stereo filmstrip
company of Rock Island, Illinois in 1951, they did morethan eliminate theonly serious competition in the field ofstereo transparencies. Tru-Vue held the license to use
Disnty characters in their new line of color stereo filmstrips
aimed at the children's entertainment market - an area ofincreasing interest for Sawyer's since issuing their first
fairy tale reels with subjects likenLittle Red Riding Hood"in 1946. The plan was to redesign the whole Tru-Vue
system into an efficient product (concentrating on children's stories, cartoons, and popular entertainment figures)that would sell in toy stores. While the new viewers andrectangular seven-scene cards were being designed, Sawyer's continued to sell some of the Tru-Vue color filmstrips

One of the buildings at the new Sawyer's plant was
occupied by Stereocraft Engineering Company. Headedby partners Karl Kurz and Gordon Smith, the company
designed and built the View-Master Personal Stereo
Camera (introduced in 1952) and the Stereo-matic 500
Projector (introduced in 1953). While the View-Mastercamera joined the 3-D photography boom a bit latecompared to the Realist, it had a number of uniqueadvantages to offer consumers over what had alreadybecome the "standard" Realist slide format. The ViewMaster camera, designed by Gordon Smith, featured the"Film MiserMlensshift that allowed a strip of pictures to betaken along the bottom half of the 35mm film. Then, atthe end of the roll a turn of the center knob on the front of

A TOUROF SAWYER'S

PL.ANTS A W I I R ' S INC
mIU.0 I 1,-

The View-Master Stereo Family of
the Personal Camera and the Stereomatic
5 0 0 Projector,

the camera moved the lenses up so that a strip of pictures
could fill the top half of the film as it was rewound. With37 pairs to a "20 exposure" roll of film, the camera gave
more rather than fewer stereos per roll. Awkward as thecamera might seem today, it was relatively "user friendly"
compared to its competition - once you got used to thelens-shift system. Perhaps its biggest advantage was thefact that 6 million people already had viewers, and personalreels could be shared among family and friends with theassumption that anyone who didn't already have a viewer
could get one for under two dollars at virtually any department, camera, or souvenir store.
The main drawback, of course, was the task of properly
mounting the tiny images in the personal reels. Whilethey offered a mounting service for already processed
film, Sawyer's main emphasis was on the sale of ViewMaster film cutters and blank reels for people to mount(and edit) their own reels. Including the cost of film,
processing, and reels, each view came to about 12C ("Lessthan snapshots" was the line featured in Sawyer's ads).
The personal reel mounting service offered by Sawyer's
involved no automated equipment beyond employeeswith film cutters and white gloves, and the company
didn't exactly promote the service in the camera's ads -even
the instruction booklet packed with the camera omitted
mention of it (it was explained on a separate slipof paper).
For "serious" stereo photographers, the small image
size was almost an addition of insult-to-injury; the Realist
format being small enough already! Sawyer's own photographers generally used nothing smaller than the BuschVerascope f40 camera with its horizontal format, andusually employed paired combinations of full-frame cameras. The fixed-focus View-Master camera also left something of a void in the "normal"close up range of 4 to 6 feet,where images would be acceptable only if conditions
allowed stopping down to f/16. Besides that, there wereno reels with narrow "close up" windows, as offered instandard format stereo slides. For close ups at 24 to 36
inches, prismllenses were available to snap on the front of
the camera.
While the View-Master Personal Camera never cameclose to dominating the 3-D boom of the 50s, (about
25,000 made) it was sturdy and many are still in use - withpersonal reels still available. For many stereo photographers, there is something very appealing about seeing
your views securely mounted in permanent order in areel. The quality of original transparencies can of course
exceed even the best commercial duplicate reels, so personalView-Master stereoscan rank among the best 3-D images
produced. - In the mid 50s, some Sawyer's employees
formed a club called "The Stereo Shutterbugs" and went
on regular outings around the Portland area to shoot (andlater vote on) groups of assigned stereo subjects.
The Stereo-matic 500 Projector is regarded by manyas one of the most well designed stereo projectors evermade. Mirrors direct even light from a single 500 wattlamp through polarizers and 3 inch lenses that will project
up toa 50 inch image. Horizontal separation of the images
is coupled to focusing, so the only other controls on the
projector are a vertical alignment lever and the scenechange lever.

SAWYER'S PUBLICATIONSSTEREO CAMERATHE
T U R E . N o SDecinl
knowledge needed.

HAVE THE FILMP R O C E S S E D . Yo11
qrt 37 stereo Dai1.s
on a ~ O . p x p n s t ~ r r
ocll: 69 on a 36 roll

CUT STEREO PICT U R E S fast w i t h
the s r ~ ~ ~ i . a ~ ~ t o m a t i c
View-hlastcr F i l mcllttcr.

Three official Sawyer's publications existed that today
provide a wealth of background information, statistics,
and delightful trivia relating to View-Master products
and the people who made them. THE DEALERSCOPE
was started in 1948 "To make available interesting facts
about View-Master dealers, selling methods, promotions,and other subjects. . ." Distributed to the thousands ofView-Master dealers, it often covered far more than justthe sales-hype promotional gimmicks limiting other suchwholesaler-to-retailer newsletters. For the employees,
Sawyer's NEWSREEL was later followed by NEWS AND
VIEWS, which was published until the company waspurchased by GAF in 1966.
NEWSREEL and NEWS AND VIEWS ran the usual
stories of employee retirements, babies, vacations, andsoftball games. But the unique nature of the View-Masterproduct, in its accumulation of images from all over theworld and its equallywide distribution system, resulted in a
fascinating range of articles and photos (all flat) in thesecompany magazines. An account of photographer Rupert
Leach's 1956 trip through Russia was illustrated withseveral photos and required three installments in the
NEWSREEL. A photo in one DEALERSCOPE shows him
during a visit to India, talking to Indira Gandhi while inthe background Prime Minister Nehru is busy looking
through a View-Master.
The wide popularity of View-Master becomes evident
from reading even a few of the company publications.
More than just buying them and stashing them away in acloset, people really used and enjoyed the product in a way

VIEW-MASTER RATlONlNC I S E h u c u

SAWYER'S 1CAMERAk
SHOT A N D FIRE I N I

U E R T O R I C A N A GENCIESL I C E PROJFCTO D ODDER

GES
JD

R%per9 Leach C 0 " r . l Far O i l Calne.\
0' b l o b * far vcrw U15 * * ,-WORl 0 TRADE E )"Paw% l T T F N T i C

Sawyer's Photographic Crew
Shctots theTurn t o pnges four un~d ttve to reod about
our co rnernmm'< 16 cinyr 1 100 of o re<-.
,,and or o rlmr or run o l d phofoqroohy at
Flush ~ n M
g - o d a w r , New York C
phofo shows i r e d Bennlon Sawyer', 1
warlret10 Orrector 01 P I~atoorophy-

Last of the Sawyer's publications, N E W S AND VlE W S was a prizwinning company publication of its type. Photographer Fren Bennion is seen
here covering the 7964 NPUIYork World's Fair.

SAWYER'S
PURCHASES TRU-VUE CO. A- ---R l3 0 F I N C COP4TINUES
B(3ILER I N OF'ERATIONV * e w r r and F I" .
P L E A S A N T HILL E N T R Y!INS IN B A Y CIT'

The slogan under the masthead was "Real Facts of Reel Folks". Note aerial
vieui of nrw plant in Feh. 7957.

that seems charming but unlikely today. There are stories
of teen-agers with collections of hundreds of reels and ofpeople buying over $100 worth at a time from dealers.
One girl sent in a 44 line poem she had written about her
View-Master! A story in a 1949 DEALERSCOPE tells of a
student in the African Gold Coast offering in a letter totrade monkey skins for more View-Master reels to add to
his collection. From both Mexico and India came stories ofyoung street merchants offering the equivalent of pennya-peek looks through a View-Master tied to a pole. Perhaps
best of all is a story from a 1966 NEWS AND VIEWS
concerning a man from Ghana who added this P.S. to anorder for a viewer and some packets:"Please when sending me some of your ViewMaster products, kindly put them in a strong packageotherwise they will be stolen. Please kindly write on
the package in which the products are in this phrase:'HE WHO WILL STEAL THIS WILL G O MAD' inorder to frighten the messengers so that they may
not steal it."
The Sawyer's plant itself was one of the more popular
attractions among local industries open for tours. In 1956
alone a team of guides took "well over 2000 people"
through the plant including everyone from school classes
to cub scout troops to tourists to foreign visitors. While
View-Master photographers received no credit on thereels, they did get frequent attention in company publications. The first issue of the DEALERSCOPE carries a

CUSTOM AND ADVERTISING REELS. --- .- -..-

"Calm yourself. Miss Twiddle! It's just StereoScope Joe, the View-Msster salesman."

Nearly every issue had a cartoon. This is from the M a y , 1949
DEA LERSCOPE.

front page story on a 1948 visit by Rupert Leach to Israelin the midst of theviolence surrounding the establishmentof the new state. Leach was Sawyer's photographic director
and the story reports that the same trip took him throughEngland, Switzerland, France, Ireland, Palestine, Syria,
Trans-Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, and South Africa. "Hebrought back close to 4,000 pictures."Fred Bennion succeeded Rupert Leach as photographic
director, and a 1962 NEWS AND VIEWS article relates his
work photographing a staged story packet called "FBI
Agent" (#B700) at the FBI headquarters in Washington
D.C. One scene involved J. Edgar Hoover welcoming a
new agent, and Bennion was granted exactly two minutes
to shoot the scene - which Sawyer's claimed to be "theonly stereo pictureof J. Edgar Hoover in existence". Photographer Weldon King covered the background and launchof John Glenn's 1962 space flight. An article in NEWS AND
VIEWS detailed the tight coordination of several Sawyer's
departments in getting the film processed and reels madefor a special packet ("America's Man In Space") (*B657)
that was ready for sale in New York in time for Glenn's
ticker tape parade - exactly one week after the flight!
William Gruber himself, though never an actual Sawyer's~ several special projects
employee, did ~ h o t o g r a p hfor
and stereographed Pope Pius XI1 at ceremonies in Rome.
Some people have assumed that he did much of thestereography for early View-Master reels, but he was toobusy perfecting the reel mounting machinery to help
build up the original image- librarv in 1938-39. Bv 1941and
1942, druber was able to travel ;round the cointry withLadd Goodman making stereos of scenic attractions.

From the beginning, custom made reels for commercial
promotions have been a part of the View-Master operation- generally with a minimum of 1,000 reels per order.
Sawyer's quite actively promoted this service, and large
orders for custom reels were often announced in thecompany publications. No single list of all the firms tohave done reels seems to have survived, but they included
Nash cars, Seagram's whiskey, Lyon's kitchens, Coleman
furnaces, White Stag sportswear, and Steiner towels.
One of the more unusual applications was thel'Visa-Dine"
View-Master stereo-illustrated menu at the Ganzt SteakHouse in Sioux City, Iowa. With the printed menu card
came a viewer and a reel with views of the seven different
dinners offered. Customer reaction had been so good thatthe owner intended to place viewers in all the nearby
motels!

-Several of the b ~ ~ k ~ ~ u l ~ l1 i, sVicio-Mnstcroirrti~~ari.
~h r dThe modpi
D focusing lighted uicwer seen here was introduced in 1955.

V
4'E
"-,s:

STEIWER,:,urw- n(.I,-_

COMR~~~GIC)$CABINETThe RLegular Delivery scene from a
Steiner Towel promotional reel, 1946 or
earlier.

MU-1
MUSHROOMSIN THEIR

L9E!.

,t,-s

",I-

NATURAL
HABITATS

Kf? ' E L
DDD"-

Aleuria Aurantia rclcases a cloud of
spores for "Mushrooms in Thcir Natural
Habitat"photo~ra~hcd
by William Gruher.
@ 1950 V~PUI-Masterlntcrnational Group,lnc.

Some of the most sought-after of all the custom reels of
the 1950s are the 3-D Movie Preview reels that appearedin special (probably sealed) viewers in theater lobbies in
1953-54. The reels and viewers where ordered by the
National Screen Service Corporation, but "Preview Kits"
were also distributed to any View-Master dealer who
subscribed to the service. Included were monthly shipments of a reel and posters for each upcoming 3-D movie
from most of the major studios. The idea was to" makedramatic traffic-stopping tie-ins with the widely acclaimed
3-D movies now showing in all parts of the country".
Preview reels sent out in August 1954 were: "Those
Redheads From Seattle", "Wings of the Hawk", "Second
Chance", and "The Stranger Wore A Gun".

THE VIEW-MASTER BOOKS
William Gruber's ultimate hopes for the View-Masterwere that it could be a serious medium of educational
information and photographic expression as well as acommercial success. The general feeling was shared by
Sawyer's management and, in effect, the company becamea publishing house for stereo-illustrated books - someoriginated by Sawyer's itself and others done for outside
individuals or institutions. The publications ranged fromthe elegant 33 reel"Mushrooms in Their Natural Habitat"
complete with Model C viewer, to brief medical monographs with a few reels and a plastic folding viewer. Mostof the books were medical - one year's list alone names 24
reel-illustrated books with titles like "Cochlear Anatomy","Arteries of the Brain", "Atlas of the Uterine Cervix" etc.

Vets are represented by "Stereo Atlas of Small Animal
Surgery" and several dental subjects are covered as well.
Some books intended for Sawyer's own popular market
included reels but no viewer. These included "Alpine
Wildflowers", "Succulent Plants", and "Unlocking Earth's
Secrets". The last on the list was an explanation of basic
geology intended to kick off a "Visualore" series ofconsumer-oriented science books using the best possible
stereo photography to reveal basic concepts. Portland
journalist and free lance writer Claude Baskett was hired
to write the text, and when the series idea was dropped hestayed on as a staff writer of the booklets in the Sawyer's
and later GAF packets on science, history, and numerous
other subjects.
By far the most ambitious projects were the large,
multi-volume bookand reel sets photographed by William
Gruber exploring subjects of specialized interest. With asolid text by Dr. Alexander Smith, "The Mushroom Book
(as it's come to be known) remains unequaled in its field
for the dramatic realism of its illustrations. Its main drawback is that it can't be taken into the woods easily foron-the-spot identification. Finding and photographing inclose up stereo the 231 examples took over a decade, and"Mushrooms In Their Natural Habitats" was finally published in 1950.
With Dr. David Bassett, William Gruber photographed
every section of the human body (literally inside and out)using the facilities and prepared examples at the Stanford
Medical School.The book, "A Stereoscopic Atlas of Human
Anatomy" uses sequences that move into deeper and

VOLUME U

Buddhist Guardian lion from chin^A r t in Three Dimensional Color" (Tang
Dynasty, British Museum, London).
@ 7969 The Gruber Foundation.

156
NEW YORK CITYv'f>p;!:f.1
:'?
::.:"
, ~..,...--,,.-.r.r:::.ll

U SA.

' I,n r,U * Y f I;S INC.
01
wI D4"

Most of the Sawyer's aerial scenirs werequiteflat, but this oneof New Yorkand theQueen Elizabeth madegood use ofthe plane
as a "prop': @ 7952 View-Master International Group, Inc.

closer stereo detail showing various structures of the
body. Some stereo x-rays are included as well as shots ofdye-injected blood vessels. The largest and most recent
project was "Chinese Art in Three Dimensional Color" by
Harry M. Garner and Margaret Medley. Mr. Gruber
traveled all over the world doing stereo photography ofChinese art objects in public and private collections including objects in nearly every material from the Neolithic
period to the end of the Ch'ing dynasty in 1912.
William Gruber died in 1965 before the work was completed. When asked about a fitting memorial for her husband, Norma Gruber asked that the book be finished, andRupert Leach was brought back to work at View-Masterto complete the photography. Due to fears that GAF,
which had just purchased Sawyer's, might not take theproject seriously thenGruber Foundationnwas formed tofinish and market the four-volume, 1,258 view set, which
was published in 1969.
The reels are in folios bound into the front and back ofeach volume and the set includes a lighted focusing viewer
on a special stand. Unlike any of the other View-Masterbooks, this set is still available from Reel 3-D Enterprises.
Sawyer's also published a series of "Correlated Classroom Materia1s"for grade schools consisting of combined
books, records and View-Master reels in the late 1950s.
Sets were available on music, science, and children's stories,
but most of the offerings in the catalog are "supplementary" and consist of the regular three-reel packets selected
for their educational subject matter.

Other than an occasional leaf or branch,this demonstration reel is one of the raretimes Sawyer's allowed anything to extend
through the window. View-Master artist]oe Liptak posed with a loaded gun for"realism" and the ston) has it that a flashbulb exploded on one exposure, nearlycausing the photographer heartfailure! Reel
#DR-29.

INTO THE 60s
In the late 1950s, original Sawyer's partner and generalmanager Edwin Mayer had died and Harold Graves, president since 1930, had retired. In 1959, Robert Brost of the
Chicago office became company president and began a
program of modernizing production, products, and management. By 1963 there were 660 employees with anannual payroll nearing $3 million annually.
According to a former sales executive, one of the mostimportant single elements in the increasing sales of the
60s was the introduction of shrink-wrap packaging toView-Master reel packets. The packets had already nearlycompletely replaced sales of single reels, and the newplastic wrapping process safely sealed the reels in thepackets insuring longer shelf-life - a big difference forretailers tired of paper envelopes which quickly became
dusty and faded looking. The glossy new look of ViewMaster products brought new displays in new outlets, butalso brought the era of the open-backed envelope inside
the plastic - a frustration for collectors for years to come.
The seemingly incomplete envelopes allowed a dealer
code to be impressed through the plastic of an alreadywrapped packet into a piece of carbon paper inside. This
resulted in the store's number appearing on the reel list
order form, so that even if the customer ordered future
packets directly from the factory, the dealer would get acommission.

THE FOREIGN CONNECTION
Sawyer's had established a major distribution center in
Chicago in 1949, and in 1952 Sawyer's Europe was established as a n affiliated organization in Belgium t o serve
countries where monetary o r trade restrictions made tradewith the U.S. plant difficult. At one point, Sawyer'soperations also existed in India and Japan, but most trade continued to flow from the main Oregon plant - which in1964 was awarded the President's "E" Flag for a 75%
advance in export sales in the previous 3 years.
The Belgium operation grew into a major manufacturing
and design center with its o w n versions of the current
viewer models, its o w n reel printing and mounting
equipment, and its o w n packaging styles and innovations.
As with many other things, t h e 3-D photography boom
came later to Europe and lasted longer (interest having
been more steady for years). In 1962, t h e Belgium plant~ntroducedthe View-Master Mark 11 stereocamera to theEuropean market. Its diagonal film path allowed t h e full
width of a roll of 35mm film to be filled with View-Master
format images on a single pass through the camera. T h e
i-mr-."-m

The View-Master Mark 11 camera, designed by Sawyer? in Belgium
and rnadr in West Germany.

concept seems to have been a n independent solution to
the format problem, although it had been proposed ten
years earlier in a rejected design for t h e new Sawyer's
Tru-Vue viewer and for the never-built "Personnette"

camera. T h e Mark I1 was a light weight and less expensive
stereo camera of far simpler design than the Personal.
Sawyer's saw t h e 3-D boom as over in this country, anddidn't promote the new camera here with anything likethe effort made on the Personal (on which production had
ended in 1956). It was introduced in the U.S. for $78.50 much lower than the initial price of the Personal - andremained on reel lists from 1963 to 1965 with its special
film cutter listed in dealer's catalogs until 1975.

THE GAF YEARS
By 1966 Sawyer's had over 9,000 retailers in the U.S.
alone and sales had grown from $9 million in 1963 to $29
million in 1965-66. Employment had grown to 1,300 withmortr working during peak periods. Three shifts wererequired and special parking arrangements had to be made,along with a traffic director on duty between shifts! The
company was simply growing faster than its resources both physical and financial.
When General Aniline & Film Corporation (the current
incarnation of theoriginal E. & H.T. Anthony Co.) offeredto buy Sawyer's, the management and main stockholders
expressed interest and meetings were soon being held to
explain the move to employees along with stories in NEWSA N D VIEWS. At an October 1966 stockholder's meeting,the promise of continued growth with a larger organization(combined with the prospect of increased value for theirshares) resulted in a solid vote for the acquisition with lessthan one percent of the shares voting against the proposal.
Sawyer's had become a wholly owned subsidiary of the
GAF conglomerate - retaining its local management andproviding to GAF a photographic equipment manufacturing arm to g o with the film production division of GAF.
People at Sawyer's had been given the impression thatt h e company would be allowed to retain the Sawyer's
name,but that, like the publication NEWS A N D VIEWS,
was soon to disappear along with more and more of thekind of employee morale that had taken the company so
far since 1939. T h e View-Master had become a minor
item in the busy high-level dealings of one of the country's
largest corporations. Attention to promotion of ViewMaster products was spotty, and hardly kept pace withthe changing marketsof t h e 1970s and 80s -even thougha number of new products were introduced. After producing one last viewer under the GAF name, the Tru-Vueline was dropped and t h e eventual move of most View-

INSIDE CHINA
TODAY

Responding to thesudden new interest in
China, GAF View-Master included this"Great Wall" shot in their 19 72 Packet.
@ 1972 Vim,-Mastwlnt~mational
Group,In(.

One of the most successful lunnr surface
stereos, this 3 inch squnre closeup was
included in the G A F Science Series.
( N A S A photo1

Master subject matter into the toy oriented market was
signaled. Fortunately, some interesting lines started by
Sawyer's were followed up - as with the "World of Science"
packets and the "Old Time View" series using high quality
copies of Keystone views to fill packets on old cars, planes,
ships, etc. With the best reels of the Nature packets and"World Travelnpackets like the 1972 "Inside China Today",enough was produced to maintain at least some awarenessof the View-Master's potential.
Even the move toan emphasis on entertainment subjects
wasn't enough to guarantee sales, and GAF introduced
some new 2-D projectors and the 3-D Talking ViewMaster to try to regain growth in the market. But for adevice intended mainly for children's stories, the GAF
Talking View-Master required five steps (and usually thehelp of an equally frustrated adult) just to get a reelstarted properly! Even then, sound quality was atrocious
at best and the translucent records made a burlesque ofthe concept of a light diffuser.

Perhaps the most basic change that GAF made in the
product was the switch from Kodachrome duplicating
film as the stock used in View-Master reels to a Kodak
print film similar to that used in Tru-Vue cards andemploying a color negative as the "original" from which
the 16mm final prints are made. While the deep color
saturation and permanence of Kodachrome are lost, there
is more control of color balance and contrast through theintermediate stepof creating the best possibleMinternegative" from which to work. Permanence, perhaps, was seen
as less important in a reel of "Scooby Doo" than it had
been in a reel of the World's Fair - the latter probably
being stored carefully in the same drawer as the family
photo album, and the former as likely to be stored in a box
somewhere under the couch with the Barbie clothes andbubble soap.

THE UNICEF-VIEW-MASTER
PROJECTO n e of the most ambitious and significant projects everplanned by a producer of stereo images was in the works
at the time GAF sold View-Master. In 1980, about 200,000
brochures like the one shown were mailed to potential
subscribers inviting them to sign up for the "UNICEF
Children of the World GAF View-Master Home Learning
Program". As a sort of children-to-children education
program, the idea was that parents would buy the set to
expose their children to the cultures and lifestyles of otherchildren in every corner of the world.
Every otlher mont h, an installment would a r rive containing six View-M aster reels coveri ng two different
countries (I:hree reel s each) as well as a hardco ver book,with illustrated Intormation on the two countries. With
the first shipment, a free special-edition View-Masterviewer bearing the UNICEF insignia was to be sent. Subscribers would be billed $9.95 prior to each shipment, withthe money helping UNICEF rrograms in more than 100
countries. In 1981, everyone wrho had se,nt in the'"Charter
Enrollment Card" r eceived iI post ca rd from. the U.S.
Committee for UNICtt, reporting the G A t sale of ViewMaster and announcing a "re-evaluation" of the project.
Promotion and distribution of the program was to bethrough Midlantic Marketing Ltd. who told STEREOWORLD in December of 1981 that they planned toaShown with GAF "Klomp-It"game, the model G viewer was introduced in 7959 and after various modifications, is still sold in some gift boxes
although it has long been succeeded by the cuwent model L Ishou7n in the
UNlCEFadl. A n illustraf~dchronologyof View-Master products can hefoundin the July 7979 REEL 3-D N E W S .

.

VIEW-MASTER INTERNATIONAL
News of layoffs at View-Master were seen in the Portland press through the late 1970s, and by 1979 the total
employment figure had dropped from about 1,500 (in1966) to around 250. The entire GAF empire was coming
apart at that point - and they had sold or were trying tosell the film manufacturing and processing divisions andthe roofing material division among other enterprisesthat had been aquired in recent years. In late 1980 GAF
announced that the entire View-Master operation in
Oregon a n d Belgium was up for sale - along with sevenother GAF businesses. Within a year, businessman Arnold
Thaler had assembled a limited partnership and with thehelp of Integrated Resouces Inc. of New York, hadpurchased View-Master under the name View-Master
International Group for a reported $24 million.
Some change was evident in a matter of months instore display racks. Packets, some with the GAF name stillin the corner, were starting to be packed in blister-packcards with bold new graphics and colors. Gradually, theView-Master name was clearly featured again on viewers,
boxes, and packets as the new company restocked theracks with its own product - including the new packaging
treatment for the reels, now naked to the world within
their plastic bubbles on hanging cards.
Collectors and enthusiasts who might have hoped for a
return to the View-Master of the"Mushroom Bookdays
were, however, due for disappointment and even disgust.
Even the few science, nature, and old-time view packets

proceed with the project because View-Maste r International wasd'veryenthusiastic"about it . As it tur:ned out,.
,
those who would have been responsible tor creat~ngthe
actual reels and guiding the project through the ViewMaster plant soon had to temper their enthusiasm for theconceDt with some ~racticalauestions that are vet to beanswered.
bYith curr ent Unitebd Nation s membe rship, thr.ee reels
Per country ,,would., add up tcI more .tiian 3,00(1 stereo
photos -a .'set'' larger than anythlng ever done by
Keystone o r View-Master. At twelve countries per year,
the program would run for over twelve years. (Leavingout or combining countries would probably be politically
impossible.) 1Midlantic Marketing identified the sources ofthe photos tlo be used as the U.N. Library, UNIC EF files,
UNESCO f i les, comrnercial agencies- . and View- Master.
Except for the latter, very tew of the images on hland arestereo pairs however.
While the View-M; ~ s t efiles
r could prcwide maniy of the.
.,scenlcs, most. orr tne--scenesor,-chlldren
atbackground.
home, at school, and at play" promised in the brochurei4'
would have to be phot ographec1 specificllyfor the programX;'
in each and every U.N. member country! Even if that could(maybe I\JSA and I SU meml3ers coulc supplybi
son1e images;) the editorial querstions rennain. Hovv would
chi1dren in f amine areas be pc~rtrayed?Would views of.
.
.
hungry k ~ d sbe regarded by the countr~es~nvolvedas
helpful, or insulting? Would children in rural areas be usedor would u r b a n life be more representative in some cases?
What about national minorities within countries? Wouldthe sequencc of coun tries pict ured be random? Alphabeti~cal?By region? 1If some views ha d to waiit for a
The Belgium-produced model I1 "DeLux" viewer was introduced in
COU ntry's "tt ~rn",how old a pic ture wou Id be accc.ptable?
.
.
. .
- . n ; r & . r r o r ;- T I hl
19 7 8 and is still sold thereas a separate item. Theshorf looking eyepieces are due
And what about model releases tor the.,,to the 6 . 5 X magnification. Of any View-Masters, only the focusing model D
filer
provided greater magnification of the small images.
L?rice at finding solu.tions to PIroblems,-. ttee formore complex tnan tnese, I~ u. tne
t u.3. Lommlthat GAF had carried were no longer in store displays.
UN ICEF and Midlantic Marketing may lack the resources
The rule seemed suddenly to be "If it's not from TV, theto 1i3unch a project of Ithis scope. TOcollect and publish 21
movies or the funnies, it can't be on a View-Master reel."ster.eograph!j honestl)r portraying the lives of children for
Worse yet, when the packet based on the movie "E.T."
eacl,1, a,Al l uc v c l y L U U , inI ~the~ world~
will requi-- "--' appeared, it was found to be made up of all flat images someone supply more guidance, capital and deterrr ina at ion
some very skillfully separated into different planes forthan has yet been available for what would be tlle mostsome 3-D effect. It all seemed a bit depressing for thecomplete stereoscopic record of a specific aspect of human
work of a company that had added to its name, "The 3-D
life ever attempted.
Company".

.

.

1

rr

1

,

..

. ..

. .

,,lLLULcJ

1

,.,

n...,

,.-....

. I. I yrHUSIASTS VISIT
V-MASTER BELGIUM PLANT
.
.
.
, .,
btereoscoplc Unlon Congress last year, John WaldsmltPand I compared notes on places we would like to visit ir
Europe. John asked if there was anything special I woulc
like to see. Without hesitation, I replied, "If we get over tc
Belgium I 'd like to see the View-Ma~ s t e rplan~t in Sint
Niklaas".
After several let:ters to \liew-Mas;ter explalining ou r
.
. a
r
.
mission, we were all set. Later, atter several days ot sterec3
slides and shows at the ISU Congress (and an auctiol1
with some nice European View-Master packets in it) wcD
left Buxton and headed toward Sint-Niklaas. We arrivecc.I
r dai~ n - t o - d sk
u train r ide with :I ride on 1:he jet-foi il
c~ f t e a
I n betwee n.
.e greetedI in the lo1bby of ou<tmornir~gwe wet
The.. ne:- - - . -.
hotel by Mr. JulesGautot - I'lcture IJroducts Uevelopmcn t
Manager for View-Master. After a short ride out to thle
factory we jumped out of the car and marveled at the sizteof the plant. Mr. Gautot informed us that the overalI1
complex was shared by View-Master and GAF, both oper ating independently of each other. Entering the mail-I
lobby we spotted a large displaycase.
. filled with View
Master vicpwers, prcsjectors, :ind reels. Mr. Gautot took u
to the ma in confer(ence roorn where i~e were dazzled b'
the many differenit display racks of ;3 reel blister pack!
t
viewers, and g ~ t packages.
Off to one side was a small glass case which caught m)eye. O n careful examination, I discowered a cotlple of th
original molds that were used to make the #3 ty pe viewet.
.
along with some olcl viewers ,cameras ,and asso~rtedreel:.
Like two kids in iI candy shop for the first time, MI.
Gautot showed u1j the larl<e warehlouse st01cked wit1h
finished products - vlewers, projectors, etc. V u r next sto' nt
was the plastic injection room where we saw operations iln
progress, making the red viewer we are all familiar wittI .
Leaving this room, we walked down a long hall into th en differen t
machine shop where employees were vvorking 01
molds, dies, and assorted parts. We t'hen entel-ed a larg e

assembly room where most of tne v~ewersana projectors
are put tog1pther. We were a mazed at the ma1chinery,
wo rkers, ancd skill with which (werythin~gwas as!;embled
ancI packagecd. Trying toabsorb everythili g that w~as going-- .wd5..- - - .. -.
.--- - L urlythzng".
or1
uver whelming. but this, .was11
ye1L /...L.:cL.
IWIIILII
found ouit on entering the r,oom whc.re the refels wereembled).
'Ve marveled at the machinery used to assemble theree Is, standing in a trance for several minutes watching it
rk its mechanical magic. All the 16mm film that is fed
intc3 this machine is selected and processed at the homerr
O f f Ice in Portland,Oregon and sent here to be stored andN ext we sa w how th e windovfs of the
USEsd when r ~eeded.
ree Is and tht2 reels thc2mselves were cut out of la rge rolls,L 1.llcav.--....
,;.- It; +Lo"domen package and seal the
WatchrrULyree Is in the blister packs by h,and was most intc:resting.
Als o included in this room w as row ulpon row of bins
cked with boxes of finlshec1 reels.
1.-.I.
- J--I'qext we went into the room wnere rne prlnrlrlg 1s uurlt.
~tlanguages.
Also
for the packets in a multitude o f differen
k this room was a grloup of wc>men assemblingat i~ o r in,.-Iw v l king out the bugs
the new Talking View-Master a-..Al l u ..,in the assennbly proc.ess. We Ispent sebreral hours moretalkting and a sking quebstions. KInowing tk)at a vast majorityof c:ollectors don't like the new blister palcks, we asked Mr.
. . .
_,utot to explain wny tney naa to go this route. He,wered that retail stores insisted on having a child-proof.kage that couldn't be ripped apart and reels strewn all~ u tThe. blister uack was the idea of the Belgium plant
1 PortlancA followed suit a s hort timt later.
e ing these oversize:or those c3f you wh o have trc~ u b l stor
.kets, yo^I might vfant to dlo as I've Idone and cut the. . . .,. .
.
pac,ket in halt - just above the plastlc bubble. I hen measure
tovvards the top about the same height as the old 3 reelpac:kets, and cut off about 1/2 t o % inch more. You can now
slicle this into a plastic envelope with the reels and store
the,m with )lour older packets
I3y then t!he aftern oon was drawing to a close so Johnan(1 I expressled our th,anks to M r. Gautot. . and. View.. ,-Mastertor their generous cooperation and hospitality. It was avis,it that highlighted our whc)le trip.

The View-Master International management is wellaware of the criticism and equally well aware of the muchnarrower market open to their products. As easy as it is toblame television for virtually any problem, its importancein the matter of public awareness of and need for images(scenic,scientific, or event oriented) is very direct. Today'scolor television programming provides a variety of interesting images far beyond those available by the flick of aswitch in the 50s and 60s. A few hours of "Nova" or"National Geographic Special1' can provide more picture
information than a hundred science or natural history
packets - and for most people, movement provides as much ofan added dimension to the images as does 3-D. The entertainment packets find a successful market not despite thesimilarity to television shows, but because the charactersand stories are identical to what was on the screen - likebuying a poster orT-shirt or lunch box of your favorite
character. Scenic, science, or nature reels can't achieve
this identification with any specific personality or story, andmay be regarded by most people now as rather static
generalizations of the detailed, moving images they've
already seen on TV.
T'ne stereo aspect of the images in entertainment packets
may, in fact, be somewhat incidental to the personality
recognition factor of just having the familiar character "inhand". (This may be much of the reason that complaints
about the flat images in the "E.T." packet came mainly
from stereo purists and collectors.) Young children areeven less impressed by the 3-D in their reels of favorite
characters, and many may not be able to see 3-D throughthe viewer at all. A study at Purdue University found that
only half of children between 4 and 5 could see 3-D througha View-Master. Many use only one eye due to overly wideviewer lens spacing, inability to understand the viewer,
developmental problems associated with eye muscles, or
simply the habit of holding the viewer with a hand over
one of the diffusers!
Sales figures for non-entertainment packets in recent

by Gordon D. Hoffnnan
lanning a trip to Er gland and the lntc

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View-Master photographer Richard Dubnou~u ~ i t hone of the pairtrf
Nikon rigs usedfor lioeaction stereo. Theslight hyper effert provided when using
normal focal length lenses has become "what people expect" in the same w a y it did
with the wide separation effectsfrom vintage stereovim cameras. Note coupledfocusing band on lenses.

years tell much of the story behind current policy. Coverage of the recent visit to the U.S. by the Pope involved an
event that drew huge crowds, and yet the packet soldpoorly. Similar timely coverage of John Glenn's space flightin 1962 sold well, and the packet covering the coronationof Queen Elizabeth I1 sold nearly '/z million copies. The
recent Royal Wedding packet on the other hand, sold only
a few thousand even in Europe! The GAF series of packets
using reproductions of old Keystone views sold well forthe first year or so of release (30,000 to 40,000 each) but
sales dropped off sharply once the specialized market was
saturated. Scenic packets had been relatively poor sellers
for some time even during the GAF years. In some cases,
they did well only in the area near the subject of thepacket. Whether they could have been promoted more
effectively and with more imagination than GAF showed
is of course open to debate. It would have been interesting
to have seen what Sawyer's strategy would have been in
the 1970s.
Several people interviewed at View-Master International made the point that the cost of keeping scenic
packets up to dat;and introducing new ones has gone up
considerably and would today no longer be matched bysales - even if salescould be improved. Many of them also
pointed out that scenic and specialized packets are still
made as custom orders to be sold in or around attractions
like Knotts Berry Farm, the NASA Space Center, Cypress
Gardens. and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
One potential "event packet" that was impossible toignore was the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens, only 50
miles from the View-Master plant. The day of the big
eruption, View-Master Senior photographer Hank Gaylord was flying back from assignment in the east when his
plane flew directly over the billowing ash cloud. His cameras were right there with him, but all the film had beensafelyaway and checked in with the luggage!
Later, two trips were made over the mountain to obtainstereo pairs that could be used in reels, despite the lack of
any interest on the part of the GAF main office in New
York. Nothing would persuade them that this was morethan just another"journalistic" matter beyond the scope ofView-Master. Current View-Master Creative Director
Gary Evans relates that talkaround the plant was that theeruption would have been covered if it had occurred in
New York. (It's not hard to imagine the hoards of stereographers who would have bee: scrambling up throughthe ash if the eruption had occurred in 1880!)

THE EUROPEAN DIFFERENCE
The View-Master plant in Beligum continues under
the new company to be a separate operation with its own
models of views, its own selection of subjects and its own
marketing strategy. In Europe, scenic subjects are still

Figures, sets and props from past story
reels clutter a wall of shelves in the ar/ department where a studiostill fundions doingoccasional model and backgroundshots thatare today o f i n combined with drawings.

View-Master artist Joe Liptak explains
large-drawing stereoscopeand special easel to
N S A member Jean Poulot. Nearly allstory
packets are now done as stereo drawings,
some with titles andotherdfects added in theprocess of creating the final color negative
step. The time andexpense involved with the
sculptured figures of past reels have combined with the saturation of kids' expectations with animated images to make stereo
drawing more in demand than mer.

marketed along with TV, Fairy Tale, and Cartoon subjects
and the multitude of nationalities within the marketingarea makes the situation different. Scenics, for example,
are color coded (on blue cards) under the heading "Countries" and the total volume of any particular packet ismuch lower than in the U.S. Packets are printed in a t least
16 different languages, but not every subject is issued inevery language and some reels are printed with additional
languages on the back side. To whatever one attributes
the cultural differences, scenic stereoviews do find more ofa market in Europe. Besides View-Master International
there are two companies in France producing Tru-Vue
style scenic cards (Lestrade and Bruguiere) for the European market.
O n e of the biggest selling packets of all time is theBelgium produced set of reels on Mecca. "Makkah
Mukarrama" is also sold as a gift box with 4 reels of Mecca
and a viewer, and a good percentage of the pilgrims to theHoly Shrine apparently buy one as a visual token of theirvisit. T h e Belgium plant also markets one of the mostimaginative View-Master oriented games yet devised.
Called "Pyramido", it consists of a set of plastic pieces thatcan only be assembled into the proper three dimensional
form by study of the game's View-Master reels.

A PACKET'S PROGRESS
Decisions concerning just what T V o r movie charactersand stories to use for packets (actually they're now called"Cards") depend on complex matters of market research

Parts for the new Talking View-Masterglide past assembly workers. Later steps inthe line adjust the speed of each motor andt a t circuits.

and arrangements for licensing the use of some very
valuable "propertiesn- names, faces, stories, and drawings.
For a feature involving live story photography, the firststep in actual production generally involves a review ofthe film or program script by the View-Master staff writerand photographer to determine if and how it can betranslated into an entertaining packet. Senior Writer1
Developer Jane Davies explained that she then writes alist of scenes that seem important to the story for thephotographer to try t o capture in stereo. T h e complex
shooting schedules required in T V and movies often makethis hard, since locations may be miles apart and story
sequences in different order. T h e stereography is nearly
always done during rehearsals, and even then, the soundof the paired Nikons used by View-Master can require
moving back from the set and using a pair of longer
lenses. (An advantageof the twin SLR rig, and of its wider
than normal separation, is that 105mm lenses can be usedwithout loss of stereo effect.)T h e eventual scenes used in the reels (and the captions)depend largely on what the photographer is able to get on
the set o r location of the production. Good shots involving
sub-plots o r minor characters in a story can present a real
challenge in caption writing, and can sometimes require
the use of split frames to explain the action within the 21
scene limit. Once the 21 scenes are chosen, "internegatives"
are made of each original transparency on 70mm color
negative film. Any cropping o r image combinations aredone at this stage, and the processed negatives are checkedOne ( 1 1 t111f ~ ~ i chlir~r!
lc?ss~~tt~h/ylioirrfs 1 1 1 / / ! I , vifwrr production process. Most
olirrations are noui automatrd.

on a video color analyzer to determine as closely as possible
the correct color balance to be achieved in the next step the printing of thousands of frames (after test reels aremade) of each right and left negative on 16mm print film.
After careful checking, the processed film is sent to thereel mounting machines where these masterpieces ofpre-computerized automation cut and mount the frames
from 14 spools of film onto each waiting reel blank at apace and rhythm that has an almost hypnotic effect onmost visitors. After a trip through a packaging machinethat combines reels into sets of three and seals them on
their cards, the story is ready for shipment and sale.

mean a slow sales growth for the new product despite its
nearly total improvement over the old design.
With only two controls (an insertlremove button andthe scene change lever) the new viewer chimes into life assoon as a recordlreel card is inserted, and from that point
you just listen and look - guided by the automatic electronic
tone. As improved as the sound quality is, it's limited by
the 2 inch speaker and the relatively slow speed of thesmall record. The release of more talkinn., reels will help
sales somewhat, but the big test is the release (and degreeof success with a slightly older market) of the Talking
packet of Michael Jackson's "Thriller".
View-Master Creative Director Gary Evans sees considerable potential for the Talking View-Master in therock music"video"image field -depending on the responseto the "Thriller" reels. The possible stereoscopic effects
that could be used in the already richly imaginative worldof "MTV" type productions are limited only by the mind
and eye muscles of the observer. With some video 3-D
segments already history, rock videos could lead (andfinance) the next generation of stereoscopic innovation.
View-Master is now in the fortunate position of being
able to provide handy, color 3-D stills (complete withsound track) of any such productions whether the originals
are in 3-D or not.

THE FUTURE
Sales of the new Talking View-Master had been"goodaccording to an executive at the Portland View-Master
International Group Headquarters. Although store shelves
haven't been cleared out by customersfighting over them,sales have been close to the expected level for a new andfairly expensive toy department item. Many parents
probably remember the clumsy, doll-voiced GAF Talking
View-Master of a few years ago and hesitate to spendmoney on anything that reminds them of it. This could

The new Talking View-Master and one of the nrui record/rrels. Bothrecord and reel remain inside the plastic whilr in use. Oprnings in the plastic
allow clmr viewing oftheotherwise regular reel. The older talking vimler's only
advantage was that regular reels would fit in it, which isn't the case with thenew one.

Stereo photographers continue to"discover" the Vieul-Master Personal
Camera and use it on a far wider range ofsubjects than shown in theadsofthe 7950s.
" b g , Humboldt County, California" wastaken in 1983 by NSA member Jean
Poulot.

People at the View-Master plant were confident that
careful planningof on-set stereo photography would mean
no more flat packets like "E.T." would be produced tocontradict the company's slogan "The 3-D Company".
Late last year, the public sale of stock was announced, andshortly after it was learned that the stock certificateswould indeed be in 3-D! Actually, the design is a perfectly
dignified anaglyph of the company name in front of a
globe to convey the international nature of the corporation.
Company representatives were unwilling to be more
specific about upcoming 3-D products beyond saying that
there is a good deal of interest in motion images combinedwith stereo. No one was willing to comment on thepossibility of a talking projector, 2-D or 3-D, although withthe records in the path of the light as with theoldversion,
the design would seem more practical.
Whatever one thinks of the current range of subject
matter, View-Master as a company and as an establishedstereo format is again committed to true stereoscopic
imaging and the development of systems to maintain amarket for it.

SOURCES OF CURRENT
VIEW-MASTER MATERIALSNOTE: USED. CAMERAS, PROJECTORS,ACCESSORIES, VIEWERS AND REELS ARE
AVAILABLE FROM A VARIETY OF DEALERS
AND COLLECTORS. SEE THE STEREOWORLD CLASSIFIEDS PAGE OR SHUTTERBUG ADS.
WORLDWIDE SLIDES lists in their mail-order catalog alarge selection of View-Master packets no longer foundon store racks or available only in local scenic attraction
areas. Each packet listing includes the titles of all 21 scenes,
so it's easy to check for duplicates in your own collection.
They also offer packets from View-Master in Belgium, as
well as current viewers, the projector, the library chest,
and blank reel mounts. Old model talking View-Masters
and reels are offered as well as a separate catalog of the
2x2 Pana-Vue slides which are still produced by ViewMaster. Worldwide Slides, 7427 Washburn Ave. South,
Minneapolis, MN 55423.
MILWAUKEE STEREO EXCHANGE offers a wide
variety of View-Master packets from both the U.S. andEurope, as well as View-Master viewers and viewers for
the European StereOrama and Bruguiere reels. Several of
the latest titles from both View-Master plants areavailable, as well as a selection of single reels. New single
reel envelopes will soon be offered along with plastic
sleeves in the View-Master packet size. For catalog listing
sheets, send 374 postage to Milwaukee Stereo Exchange,
Box 11686, Milwaukee, WI 53211.
REEL 3-D ENTERPRISES offers blank reel mounts, projection lamps for Stereomatic 500 projectors, camera
manuals, parts manuals, and reel mounting manuals(xerox copies) for both types of View-Master cameras.
They also offer the View-Master "Alpine Wildflowers"
Book and the $400 "Chinese Art In Three Dimensional

Two years after his death in 1965, a memorial park u ~ n sdedirati~rito t11~
memory of William Gruher. hndscaped u~ithshade trees, it cotltain~picnic
tables and an employee recreation area within the sheltered space betuloc~r~
thismain buildings of the View-Master plant. From the open u~indou~sof a nearby
room can he heard the rhythmic clatter of the mounting machines, u ~ o r k i non~the next billion reels.

Color" four volume set with lighted focusing viewer.
Reel 3-D Enterprises, PO Box 35, Duarte, CA 91010.
MR. POSTER offers blank reel mounts from PO Box
1883, So. Hack, NJ 07606.
THE 3-D SOURCE offers blank reel mounts at PO Box
14306, Austin TX 78761.

VIEW-MASTER MOUNTING SERVICES
3-DIMENSIONAL SERVICES does mounting of processed film from any View-Master camera at 15001 N.
Applegate Road, Grants Pass, OR 97526.
C&M LEE does mounting of processed film from PersonalView-Master cameras only, at 1419 Madison St., Clarksville, TN 37040.

SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Claude Baskett
Jane Davies
Richard Dubnow
Gary EvansJohn Lawler
Jean Poulot
David Starkman

I-"-rag

Figure 1/, - , s v m - - w

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mains only a tantalizing clue to the elusive company otherwise known only to have been located in Paris. They published large numbers of views from about 1860 to at least
1900.
Their tissue views were generally of excellent quality,
particularly those on the yellow embossed mounts of the1860's and 70's. In particular, they produced a very popularseries of 72 views of the life of the Devil in Hell (Enfer).
Their popularity is attested to by the large number ofeditions extending to 1900, and the large number of forgeries (non transparent) which show up quite commonly.
The entire set shows many aspects of life in Hell, andmore particularly, the life style of the Devil himself. It is
not known whether the original dioramas were on public
display or produced only to be photographed. The views
were sold for many years and produced in several editions.
As is true of most tissues, the quality was in large part in

the hands of the worker who did the coloring and piercing.
The very best are remarkable indeed! The Devil and hiscohorts have brilliant red eyes, jewels glitter, and colored
lights appear. No wonder they were popular over one
hundred years ago.
A rare early edition (not identified as to maker) is onlight buff (cream)square cornered mounts. The piercing
and coloring in this set,while interesting, differs substantially from the basic B.K. series.
The great majority are in yellow diecut mounts, as in all
but one of the illustrations. The prints were not always
numbered, but there is never any ambiguity and the entire
72 viewscan be neatly classified. Assembling such a set is a
substantial challenge. Over the years, I have managed to
put together at least one copy of all 72 with most in nearmint condition.
The range of subject matter is fascinating. Figure 1#48,

Figure 223

Figure 3
F"Visit of the Sun to Satanr'is a fine example of one of themore complicated dioramas. As in this example, most of
the titles are easily translated but some are much morechallenging. In Figure 2 #49, "Les Clodoches in Hell," fourskeletons are dancing for the Devil and his consort, two
women and two men. From Professor Laurence Senelick,a specialist in 19th century French theater, I find that "LesClodoches" was the name of a group of four very popular
eccentric dancers - all male! They posed as a fireman, amilitary man, a wet nurse, and a milkmaid. It must havebeen a hilarious act. They even spawned competition andtheir popularity led to this most unusual accolade.
Another fine view #68 shows the legendary Madame
Angot in Hell (Fig. 3). She was a fishwife in Les Halles (theold market place in Paris) back around 1800 who suddenly
acquired a fortune but not the manners to go with it. She
was known for her coarse humor and foul mouth. She

S

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P

made such an imvression that her name was still bandied
about over fifty years later. It even led to the productionof a musical (1874) "La Fille de Madame Angot" (The
Daughter of Madame Angot) available as a set of six
diorama tissues published by JM, a competitor of BK in
this field.
The first of the Diablerie views "The Seven CapitalSinsnisthe workof a man named Habert and he inscribedboth his name and the date 1860 in the plaster base. His
signature shows on seven others with the date 1861 on#33 and 1863 on #45. Starting with #4, nine of the dioramas are signed by Hennetier. All the rest, with the excevtion of #5 "Satan Chased from Paradise", the work of
aiartist named de Cougny, are assumed to be the work of
one or the other of these imaginative gentlemen.
Figure 4 #63 "Madame Satan's Boudoir" is in a white(continued on page 46)
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"They have visions of a multi-story office building
filled &th workers who ~ uoutt a slick magazine . . ."of the NSA andby John Waldsmith
The National Stereoscopic Association and STEREOWORLD grew out of need for information. The main
purpose was and still is to disseminate information toenthusiasts interested in stereoscopy. After ten wonderful
years wecan boast of an international membershipof over
1600 with a threeday national convention and a magazine
which representsour interests with timely and informative
articles in a style which bespeaks the highest quality
possible.
The National Stereoscopic Association, Inc. was theresult of a conversation between Richard Russack andWilliam C. Darrah. Mr. Darrah was the guest speaker for
the Photographic Historical Society of New England annual show at Boston in the spring of 1973. During his
meeting with Richard Russack, Mr. Darrah suggested thatpossibly there were enough collectors to form a national
stereo collectors club. Richard Russack agreed and in thenext few months he began to formulate what was tobecome the N.S.A.
The Darrah book Stereo Views, A History of Stereographs in
America and Their Collection, published in 1964, was the chiefsource of information for collectors. Richard and Francine
Russack were both avid stereo view collectors and had
made a number of contacts with other collectors. Shortly
after this meeting with Mr. Darrah, Richard Russack andJohn Craig promoted a mail auction of photographica
which featured many lots of stereographs. It was throughthis auction that I had my first contact with the man who
would found the N.S.A. I was quickly becoming an avid
(almost addicted) stereo view collector and placed bids on avariety of lots - my first experience with a mail auction.
With my invoicecame a note asking who I was - a virtual
unknown living in Columbus, Ohio. Soon afterward
Richard and Francine sent out a letter to all persons whothey felt would participate in a stereo collectors club. We
were asked to respond by listing the names and addressesof all those we knew. From this survey a mailing list of
about 450 names was compiled. Questions had been asked
about participation and I responded that I would like to seea newsletter unlike the newsletters I had received fromother "Clubs". Those "newsy" mimeo sheets usually talkabout who is on vacation, when the next club meeting will
be held and who has died. I wanted a newsletter witharticles about stereo views, the photographers and publishers who made them and the events depicted by thesecurious twin photographs. Also, I wanted it typeset in neatcolumns, with high quality printing and a lot of illustrations of views in full format, not cropped, halved or
bleeding off a page or split by the gutter.
Richard Russack responded by asking me to be the
Editor. I did not know anything about printing, graphic

design and the like, but I agreed to give it a try.
The response from the survey proved there was sufficient interest and plans were made to start up the new
club. I went to thelibrary and looked at other newslettersand chose a format I thought was suitable - a four pagefolded sheet. Aftera call for articles I soon realized it would
be much bigger in size. I planned the first issue to be twelve
pages.
I soon discovered the agony of dealing with printers
upon obtaining estimates. We planned to print 1,000 of thefirst issue. Most large printers would not even talk to me
unless we needed 5 or 10 times that amount. After driving
all over Columbus for two weeks I found a commercial
printer who would do the job at what seemed like areasonable cost. I reported back to Rick Russack and we
decided a membership for six issues a year at $10 would
cover the expenses.
In late 1973 we had the "Stereo View Collectors Club"and my original name for the newsletter, "The Viewfinder".
But it sounded toomuch like a classified ads trader. At thetime there was a slick magazine called "The Wonderful
World of Ohio" so I changed the name to the "Wonderful
World of Stereo Views". This was too much. My brotherTom suggested shortening it to "STEREO WORLD.
In the meantime, Rick Russack had been contacted bysome stereo photographers who also were interested injoining. The"Collector"part of the organization's title was
too limiting in scope and I did not like the idea of a "Club'',
so The Stereo View Collectors Club was given the moreprestigious name "American Stereograph Society". I sent
my suggestion on to Rick Russack. He liked "STEREOW O R L D but pointed out that there was already a"Stereoscopic Society, American Branch" - an organization for people who take stereo. Also, my brother Tom
pointed out that our initials would be "ASS''. I toyed with
the idea of changing it to the "American Stereoscopic
Association" (ASA) but eventually chose the present
name.
In late November 1973 an application letter was sent
to our mailing list which had increased to over 500. We
also mailed it to several institutions with stereo view
collections.
The articles and comments began to come in. To encourage membership we offered free classified advertising(we still do). Here I was in Columbus, Ohio and the
Russacks in Mansfield, Massachusetts. We had never met
and he was sending me a check for the first printing.
An article on the Kilburns arrived from Tex Treadwelland another on Civil War stereo views from John Craig.
Rick supplied photos on his Railroad War views for a
pictorial feature spread. By late January I was ready to takethe rough typed copy to the printer for typesetting. They
said it would takeabout a week. I was soon to learn my first
lesson about printers. Never believe them when they give
you a completiondate. Always figure on an extra week ormore. A week later I returned. It was not ready. By midFebruary I was in a panic. Rickcalled to say we were getting
members at a rapid pace and would have almost 100 by
March 1, the day for the first issue of STEREO WORLD.
O n about the 15th of February the printer called to say
the typesetting was ready. Idrove there through a blindingsnowstorm on my lunch hour, across town from where I
was working. I arrived about 12:45 p.m. Nobody knew
anything about it. I had learned my second lesson about
printers. Never go in during the lunch "hour". I called mywork to have somebody cover for me. A fifteen minutedrive had taken me forty-five minutes in the snow. At
about 1:45 p.m. somebody in authority returned to findmy typesetting. I dashed back to work.
That evening my brother Jim and I pasted up STEREOWORLD. It wasexciting to see it come to life on the pages.
Somehow my estimates had allowed enough space for all
thecolumns of type but I had to reduce the Civil War views
to get them all in.
The next morning I was back at the printer with thepaste-up. They saidit would be ready by March 1.February
28 I checked with the printer. They had not started on it
yet. I thought back to the evening my brother and I had
worked till 3:00 a.m. pasting it up, and then with notenough sleep, I had driven through the snow in a sweat sothey would have it. I was learning fast the ins and outs ofthe printing business.
In a few days I checked again. There was a delay because
the "Stripper" was sick. I will not try to explain what a
stripper is, but every print shop has only one and if he is on
vacation o r sick everything comes to a halt. They always
seem to be sick or on vacation.
The labels had arrived from Massachusetts and we
affixed them to the legal-sized envelopes.
March 11,1974 arrived, my 29th birthday. I felt like I was
129. Rick Russack was probably thinking I was in Mexico
with the money he had sent. March 15 the STEREOWORLD was ready. It was delivered to my parent's homein mid-afternoon. I had to work until 9:00 p.m. that day.
My brother Tom folded and stuffed the 110 first issues.
Later I would mail several hundred Vol. 1, No. 1to institutions with an application. I arrived home at 1O:OO p.m. tofind the magazine ready for the post office.
Within a few days I started to receive reactions to thefirst issue. The only negative comment was that it was
folded for the legal-sized envelopes! From then on all issues
have been mailed flat.
I went to several suppliers for estimates on envelopes.
My best price was for a plain brown catalogue-size. I
ordered 1,000 of them. To save money we used a handstamp for the return address. STEREO WORLD wasbeing mailed First Class, and with the second issue I was tobegin my agonizing education into the trauma I call the
U.S. Snail Service.
I had already decided to change printers but the second
issue was already in the works. T h e third issue was doneby our second printer, who lasted until a couple years ago
when we switched to the present company. T h e second

issue was on time (May 1,1974) because I had taken in mypasted-up copy further in advance in anticipation of thedelays. The second issue was slightly smaller but was
mailed to nearly 200 members. We had doubled our size inone month. We stuffed them into the brown envelopes andsent them on theirway. I soon learned that the Post Office
was taking a long time to deliver many of the issues.
Members in Chicago, New Jersey and California werereporting two to three week delivery times. Some got theissue in 2 days! I went to my local Post Office to see what
could bedone. Theclerk looked at my sample in the brownenvelope and asked how much postage I had used. We had
affixed the First Class amount and stamped each with a"FIRST CLASS" imprint. But in sorting the mail, Post
Offices in some regions were considering our package as
Third Class or Parcel Post. We switched to a white envelope (which we still use) and got immediate results.
Over the years we have progressively learned to deal
with printers and the Post Office and even banks. I could
fill many volumes with horror stories that would turn an
Oakland Raider gray. Fortunately we learned from our
mistakes and made mostly right decisions at the righttimes and havesurvived to tell about it. The N.S.A. would
not exist today if it were not for people like John Weiler and
Linda Carter whodevote hours of volunteer time to keep
the whole organization afloat.
A few people do the work of hundreds. This is mostevident in our image. A week hardly passes that we do notreceive a letter or telephone call from a new member who
asks to speak to the"Classified DepartmentUorthenBackissues Department". They have visions of a multi-story
office building filled with workers who put out a slick
magazine and offer all kinds of services to stereo enthusiasts. I have had several people call me while passing
through Columbus who want to come over to our "Headquarters Building". I only laugh and explain that we arevolunteers working from cluttered family rooms and dens
who simply love stereoscopy enough to give hours of timeto this organization. Maybe 10 years from now somebody
will call and ask tosee the N.S.A. headquarters and I will beable to tell them directions and which parking garage theyshould use. We now have over 1600 members - sixteen
times what wedid on March 1,1974. Let me see, 16 times
1600. . .

VOLUME I, NUMBER 1
The center twelve pages of this 10th anniversary
issue are an exact reprint (from the original negatives) of STEREO WORLD'S first issue, completewith occasional tilted headlines and copy and including the first set of member's classified ads. Withany luck, all the "FOR SALE" items have long sincegone to new owners - perhaps more than once bynow. But some of the "WANTED" material might
still be eagerly sought by the collectors who placedthese ads ten years ago. In the meantime, several
early issues of STEREO WORLD have themselves become minor collector's items. Photocopies of all outof-print back issues are now available from the
N.S.A. Member's Book Service (4201 Nagle, Bryan,
TX 77801). This copy of Volume 1, Number 1 is ananniversary gift to the current membership - andit's on better paper than the original!

THE NATIONAL STEREOSCOPIC ASSOCIATION

VOL. 1, NO. 1

MARCH-APRIL 1974

PERSPECTIVE

comm6nts on kilburn

By T. K. Treadwell
Let me say a t t h e outset t h a t I
am primarily an admirer of t h e
Kilburns, and not a scholar. Comments on their photographic output a r e based on study of my own
collection, and examination of several others; amounting in total toprobably less than half their output. Much of t h e following biographical information comes fromworks by Dexter, Darrah, T a f t ,and others. I was r e c e n t l y encouraged to learn t h a t Gary N.
Chamberlin is doing graduate research on the history of t h e Kilburns, which should provide new
information. I only hope t h a t thisshort, hasty note will provoke comment, and smoke out others who
a r e interested in or know something of t h e Kilburns.
The Kilburn partnership - Benjamin West Kilburn and Edward
Kilburn - came a f t e r t h e t r u epioneers of photography. After
Civil War service, t h e two brothers

set up shop in Littleton, N. H.,
in 1865. Although Edward hadlearned d a g u e r r e o t y p y in t h e
1850s, he wound up in t h e laboratory end of t h e operation, while
Ben became t h e photographer. Success came quickly, due to t h e combination of t h e photographic talents of one, and t h e business acumen of t h e other. Edward Wilson,of t h e influential Philadelphia
Photographer, was a n early admirer who helped to spread theirfame f a r beyond t h e limits of t h e,
White Mountains.
By 1869 their plant, including
production facilities, salesrooms,
and studios, was one of t h e largest
in t h e country, reported to be producing 1,200 prints daily. Unfortunately little is known of t h etechnical side of t h e operation.
The building which housed t h eplant still stands ( a s an apartm e n t ) in Littleton, with a modest
historical marker on t h e curb.
Their distribution outlets a r e notclear; Bates of Boston was one,a n d produced a n early catalog.
Dodge, Collier a n d Perkins of Boston were also a n outlet, and Whiting Bros. of New York City listed
themselves a s "sole agents" a searly a s t h e second a n d third issues. D a r r a h notes t h a t t h e Underwood organization was involveda t a later period, b u t I have seen
no direct evidence of this.
I n 1877 Edward Kilburn retired;
Ben t u r n e d most of t h e photography over to others, b u t continued t o manage t h e operation almost until his death. Apparently
i t was a highly successful financial v e n t u r e ; Kilburn purchased
several paintings of t h e White
Mountains which h e bequeathedto his home town.
As with many photographers,
portraits of them a r e not common;
they spent more time behind t h ecamera t h a n in f r o n t of it. Ben
Kilburn is shown in his view No.
(Cont. on page 3 )"RAII, ROAD on to Mt. Washinqton," No. 101, one of Kilhurn's most popular subjects. (John Waldsmith Collection)

DEBUT : WA'R IN 3-D

By John S. Craig
Photo-journalism, of which w a r
photography is a small portion, i salmost a s old a s photography itself. The daguerreotype w a s used
to record disasters in t h e 1840's;
stereoscopic photography to bringt h e depth and dimension t o t h e battlefield. however. find i t s beginnings in ~ m e r i c a " sCivil w a r . While many believe t h a t Roger
Fenton took stereo photographs
during t h e Crimean W a r in 1855,t h e r e is virtually n o evidence tosupport this. T h e Gernsheims, intheir volume on Fenton, make nomention of any stereo views during this time. In fact, quite specific mention is made t h a t exposures with t h e wet collodion
process r a n between "three andtwenty seconds in f i n e weather,"certainly negating t h e possibilityof any "active" pictures and certainly making i t twice a s difficult
to record a scene in stereo.
I t was a culmination of many
events t h a t led American photogr a p h e r s to be t h e f i r s t t o u s estereoscopic photography during
wartime. T h e theory of stereo
photography, a s i t was f i r s t proposed, provided f o r two separate
exposures, taken a lateral distancea p a r t in proportion t o t h e distanceof t h e camera to t h e subject. At a
distance of approximately 25 feetfrom t h e subject, two separate exposures must be taken approximately 25 inches a p a r t ; f o r a view

FRENCH'S BRIGADE: Brady's Album Gallery No. 394, taken a t St. Peter's
Church, Yorktown, and copyright 1862, by M. B. Brady (Michael W. Swanson
Collect ion. )facross a river, t h e exposures mustsame distance a s between a person's eyes. A camera following
be separated in their taking by approximately 50 feet.
this theory was constructed inThis w a s to give t h e three-dit h a t year, but was not in generalmensional "relief" effect, which
production until 1853. And, parmore often appeared a s "relief"
titularly in England, the theoryr a t h e r t h a n a s stereo a s we know
was still being strongly debatedi t today.
well into t h e 1860's, and not widely
I t was not until 1849 t h a t S i r
accepted.
David Brewster p r o p o s e d t h e
I t was a c o m b i n a t i o n of thetheory of binocular stereo photogadoption of Brewster's theory inraphy a s we know i t today-witht h e United States and t h e publicat h e taking lenses of t h e camera
tion in 1859 of t h e glowing reports
separated by approximately t h e
on stereoscopy by Oliver Wendall
Holmes t h a t created t h e atmosphere f o r photographers to takeadvantage of this new type ofphotography during the Civil War.
The Holmes viewer, also devised
about this time, became a popular
household item, and remained es8
sentially unchanged for nearly 100
years.
'Lf"So i t was coincidentally withF
this upsurge in interest in stereo
photography, t h e stereoscope andi t s pictures, t h a t t h e American
Civil W a r gave people a t home theopportunity to see t h e war as i t
happened, in living three-D.
The identification of s t e r e ohbs
views taken during t h e Civil War,i t so r a t least t h e identification of- .
t h e photographers, offers an almost hopeless tangled mess f o r thecollector and historian. Various interchanges of negatives, personal
conflicts resulting in dissolution
13ATT1,E O F FAIR OAKS: I'rof. I.owe reconnoiters in his balloon. whileof partnerships and n e g a t i v e s
telegraphing to General McClellan. Rrarly Album Gallery No. 427. Copyrightchanging hands, and the rapid
1862, by M. R. I%rady. (Michael W. Swanson Collection.)(Cont. on page 4 )

-

t

I

k

P a g e TwoPt.

34th St., from 11 a.m. to G p.m.
F o r more information c o n t a c t
Shirley Sprung, 202 Herrick Ave.,
Teaneck, N.J. 07666.
Photographic Discoveries, M a i 1
Auction No. 1, P.O. Box 271, West
Nyack, N.Y. 10994. Illustrated catalogue $1. Closing date, March 15.
Cameras, viewers, stereo views,
large prints, literature and images. 477 lots, including two stereo
cameras, five viewers, 215 lots ofstereo views which include "John
Robinson's Circus Parade" in San
Francisco; "Home of Lincoln,"
Springfield, 1865, with f u n e r a ldrapings ; and 63 lots of Centennial
Exposition views. They a r e taking
consignments f o r a second auction
in t h e summer.
Graphic Antiquity, P.O. Drawer
1234, Arlington Heights, Ill. 60006,
phone : 312 - 296 - 5321. Illustrated
catalogue $2. Closing date, April
2. Photographica. Over 250 selectedstereo views including a n 1854
Langenheim; handwritten W a t kin's views of C a l i f o r n i a (ca.
1865) ; Chamberlain's views of t h eColorado silver towns; over one
hundred Chicago F i r e views ; viewsby Soule; a view of P. T. Barnum's
Circus C a r ; early views of South
Carolina and Florida, etc.
tEarl Moore, 152 Walnut St., Wooddale, 111, 60191. Auctions a r e held
periodically, material is solicitedf o r a 25 per cent c o m m i s s i o n .
Write f o r f u r t h e r details.
-A.

(Editor's not: This column is offered a s a f r e e service to reputabledealers to keep members informedof up-coming auction sales. Closing date f o r notices in t h e next
issue is April 15.)

EVENTS
The New England Photographic
Historical Society is holding a two
day Trade Fair, exhibit, lectures,banquet, etc. April 6 and 7, a t t h e
Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston. They
expect 40 collector/dealers to sella large variety of photographica.
Interested persons may obtain
more information from John Craig,
Cox 161, Simsbury, Conn. 06070.
Swap-Shop photographica a t t h eninth semi-annual Photographica
F a i r of the Photographic Historical Society of New York, Sunday,
April 28. The F a i r will be held a t
the Hotel McAlpin, Eroadway &(Cont. from page I )5496 in Colorado, and is also probably t h e man in No. 340, "The
Bachelor's Dream". Other family
members a r e believed to appear
in a few views.
The talents of Ben Kilburn a s
a photographer a r e b u t one reason
f o r a n interest in t h e company. Indeed, although he was very good,h e probably does not r a n k witht h e giants such a s Muybridge, John
Soule, o r George W. Wilson. His
later work, especially, seemed tosuffer, perhaps from t h e pressuresof a growing commercial commitment. Perhaps the most important
thing is t h a t t h e Kilburn company
spanned a period of 40 years ofchange in t h e United States, from1865 to 1909; to my knowledge t h elongest of any single company. I t
documented t h e changing scene,a n d t h e changing interests andtastes of t h e public to which i tcatered so well.
Their volume was tremendous ;Kilburn views a r e t h e ones mostcommonly encountered, with t h e
exception of lithos, Keystones, andUnderwood & Underwood views.
Their total output ran to perhaps
20,000 different views; t h e highest
I have examined is No. 17,274,
copyrighted 1909. Allowing f o r replacements, un-numbered views,
etc., a n d remembering t h a t they
were reported t o have had a terminal stock of some 100,000 negatives, they were indeed a major
American photographic influence.
Their annual output of new views
was not really large until about
1890, averaging only about 250 annually. I n t h a t year, new issues
doubled, and in 1891 jumped to over
1,000. I t stayed a t a level of some
800 annually until t h e t u r n of t h ecentury, a f t e r which i t declined toabout 200 a year in t h e terminal
period of t h e company.
Kilburn is often claimed to havetaken all his own photos prior to1876. Based on t h e photography,
I rather doubt t h i s ; a n increasing
number of later views lack t h e
Kilburn touch. T h e B e r m u d aviews, f o r example, may well havebeen t h e work of Heyl. Certai-lly
a f t e r 1877 h e used a wide varis~tyof photo sources, ranging fr.)mJohn Soule to H. H. Bennett; fromH u r s t and Rogers to (probably)
G. W. Wilson. James L. Davis, f i r s t

credited on a photo in 1882, increasingly contributed, a n d finally
took over t h e stock a f t e r Ben Kilburn's death.
T h e v a s t majority of Kilburn
views a r e on standard-sized card
stock. Both D a r r a h and Dexter
have listed card characteristics bywhich one can pin down r a t h e r
closely t h e d a t e of Kilburn viewsu p to about 1875. While generally
good, these a r e not i n f a l l i b l e .
Darrah's statement, f o r example,
t h a t all "first issues" will bear arevenue stamp, is highly questionable. Certainly all t h e views actually sold during t h e time stamps
were required will have them, b u t
i t is entirely likely t h a t views were
made, b u t not immediately sold.
Distinguishing first-issues f r o mthird, which they most closely resemble, should involve t h e photos
themselves a s well a s t h e card
stock. Identifiable f i r s t issues invariably have t h e two p h o t o sbutted, with n o g a p between, andwith their top edges flush, o r very
nearly so, with t h e upper edge oft h e card. By t h e s e c o n d i s s u e ,laboratory mounting practice hadt u r n e d to separating t h e prints
slightly, a n d dropping them somew h a t below t h e upper edge of t h ecard. Many views have all t h echaracteristics of a f i r s t issue, b u t
lack a revenue s t a m p ; I believet h a t these were unsold stock.
Likewise, t h e use of s q u a r e
prints a s opposed t o arched (produced by t h e Bergner p r i n t cutter)is not a n infallible indicator. Although this patent trimmer cameinto use in 1869, s q u a r e prints persisted until well into t h e 1870s, f o rwhatever reason. T h e use of variations in printing type f o r titles andnumbers is also s h a k y ; t h e r e a r e
a t least f o u r variants of first-issue
typography a n d style, f o r example.
After a somewhat hazy period in
1877-78, undoubtedly related t o t h eretirement of Edward a n d t h e reorganization of t h e company, copyr i g h t dates a r e generally shownon views, a n d work a f t e r t h a t time
can be closely dated in t h a t respect.
Kilburn, a s early a s his second
issue, a n d f o r reasons which a r e
often unclear, began r e p l a c i n gsome numbered views with others.
I n many cases these were up-dated
versions, such a s those of t h e Mt.
Washington cog railway. I n othercases t h e replacement had no relation a t all to t h e original subject, and often a fine view was replaced with a hum-drum one, such(Cont. on page 12)
Page ThreeEditors ' LetterI t is with a great deal of pride
t h a t we publish this f i r s t issue of
Stereo World. We hope t h a t many
will follow. We hope t o act a s acommunications center f o r stereo
collectors and s t e r e o p h o t o g raphers.. We sincerely solicit yoursuggestions and criticisms. This
will be your organization and its
ultimate success will depend on
the degree of active participation'of t h e members.
We a r e especially interested in
expanding t h e published information on t h e subject of stereo photography. If you have made a studyof a particular photographer, or
subject, send us an article. If yourresearch is in progress, let us know
w h a t you're working on. Perhaps
we can put you in touch with someone else working in a closely related field. We will publish almost
any original research. We also will
reprint articles by and about stereo
photographers, a s they appearedin t h e 19th Century photographicpress. If you know of an interesting article, let us know. Each issueof Stereo World will contain a smuch material a s we can afford to
print. The more members we have,t h e larger our newsletter.
We will continue to offer copies
of early catalogs. We will t r y to
keep members aware of books ofinterest to students of photography
and where possible, we will t r y tooffer these books to members a t
reduced prices, a s we have in thisissue.
Our scope is broad. We plan t otake a look a t t h e development of
the views, cameras and the various
photo processes. Amateur work a swell a s commercial photography,
will not be neglected. T h e newsletter will allow a f r e e exchange
of information and ideas. A special Question & Answer section
will provide an opportunity f o r all
members to communicate with one
another to identify t h e unidentifiable and answer t h e many questions t h a t photographic history has
provided. If you know of a n eventof importance or an upcoming auction sale, write us and it will belisted without charge. Dealers a swell a s members a r e invited toadvertise either in t h e classified
section a t 10 cents a word, or display advertising a t $25 a page,$15 a half page. (Camera ready)Each member will receive t h r e efree classified ads a year of a
total of up to 100 words ( a $10
value). This means he may r u nPage Fouran a d of 35 words in his f i r s t
issue, 35 words the second, and
30 t h e third, or in w h a t e v e ramounts up to a total of 100 words.
Any additional ads may be r u n a t
10 cents a word.
If you have a view, o r viewer,t h a t you would like t o see featured,
send a glossy black and whitephoto and include enough postage
f o r its return. We plan to publish a s many pictures a s possible.
If you send a view, please insure
it and w r a p i t securely. We cannot take responsibility f o r viewss e n t to us but every precaution
will be made t o see your views a r ehandled with care.
We're interested in your comments about our advertising policy.
We'd also like to know what kindof response your ads brought. This
would seem to be t h e finest market
place for disposing of duplicate or
unwanted items. Keep in mind
many of our members, especially
new collectors, do not have material f o r trade. These people, however , a r e ready buyers and we encourage listing of material forsale.
I n conclusion, please give thisnewsletter your support. An active
membership can make f o r a very
successful publication t h a t canmake for a very successful publication t h a t can respond to t h eneeds and wishes of all members.

COMINGAn article al)out E.& H.T. Anthony by Fred Lightfoot.
-Coleman Sellers' history of theAmateur Exchange Club.
-Howard B e n d i x ' s u p - t o - d a t e
census of glass views.
- Robert Taft's Photographic History of Early Kansas.
-

DEBUT

(Cont. from page 2 )r u s h to g e t the first views published, without regard to many oft h e details of accuracy, make t h estudy of these images much akinto assembling a j i g s a w puzzle
which may or may not be all there.
All t h a t can hope t o be accomplished in a n article such a s thisis t o give a basic outline of someof t h e information t h a t is known;
i t remains f o r individual collectorsof these views to provide the pieces
of information they possess which,when all assembled, completes t h e
puzzle.

We know t h a t Mathew B. Brady
and three c o m p a n i o n s photographed t h e Battle of Bull Run in
1861. In Humphrey's Journal of
September i t is r e c o r d e d that
Brady took stereo views, but did
not publish them. The first published views of the war were released in December, 1861, on pink
mounts, by the Anthonys. They
were t h e work of Thomas C. Roche,an Anthony employee who had been
sent to be with the 7th and 12th
Regiments, New York Volunteers,
stationed n e a r Georgetown.
According to the research ofMrs. Bryon Dexter, glass views
were prepared about the same timeby George Stacy of Fortress Monroe and t h e New York Zouave regiments. He apparently also prepared a set of paper views. Additional notes indicate t h a t the firstpublished series of these is almost
always identified, whereas later
reprints a r e not ( G e o r g e W .
Thorne published Stacy views in
1867-68; the w a r views numberedNo. 600 -No. 658. Most of thesewere of t h e rededication of Ft.
Sumter in 1865, although somewere of Fortress Monroe in 1861).
At the same time, late 1861,
Chicago's Carbutt was stationed
a t Columbus, Kentucky and produced paper stereo views. The
exact number is unknown.
Brady set forth in the spring of
1862 with his own assistant, D. B.
Woodbury, and a second photographic team of Wood and Gibson,to photograph t h e Peninsular Campaign. Views taken along this t r i p
include Yorktown, t h e Battle of
F a i r Oaks, and Harrison's Landing, among o t h e r s . I t is theseviews, plus some taken in 1861,
which constitute t h e f i r s t publication of Brady's war photography.
They were published, by Brady, int h e summer of 1862, under the title"BRADY'S ALBUM GALLERY."
I t is thought t h a t Brady had produced some 600 or more views in
stereo by this time. Until recently,
it was also believed t h a t the first
500 numbered views in the series
were all large prints, not stereo.
Mrs. Dexter in t h e 1960's could locate no stereo views with numbers
less than 500. At least two, however, exist in a private collection
in Boston, including one of Dr.
Lowe's ascension in the balloon.
F o r t h e most part, views in this
ALBUM GALLERY were credited
to the photographer who executed
them; Mrs. Dexter and W. C. Darr a h list the following a s probably(Cont. on page 10)

NSA R E F E R E N C E LIBRARY

I n each issue of Stereo Morldthe editors will attempt to bringto your attention books t h a t a r e ofinterest to p e r s o n s c o l l e c t i n gstereo views, viewers, and cameras.
We will include in this section reprints (or photocopies) of earlycatalogs a s well a s contemporary
writings. Whenever possible, wewill offer these publications tomembers a t reduced prices. Make
checks payable t o National Stereoscopic Association.
nGeorge Moss h a s written an outstanding book. I t is called "Double
Exposure: E a r l y S t e r e o s c o p i c
Views of H i s t o r i c M o n m o u t hCounty, New Jersey and T h e i r Relationship t o P i o n e e r P h o t o g raphy", but do not be misled by its
title. Its interest f a r exceeds t h e
New Jersey shore. T h e book is
illustrated with over 250 illustrations, many of them of s t e r e oviews. Furthermore, t h e book contains detailed information concerning over a dozen stereo photographers who worked in the Monmouth County area, a s well a s
checklists of their views. Monmouth County, N.J., was a major
resort of the period with notables,such a s President Grant, owning
cottages in t h e area.
The book contains illustrationsof many stereos of other p a r t s ofthe country with a discussion of
the role of the stereo view in general. Also included is a discussionof the early photographic processes and a stereo viewer to be
used with two of the views in thisbook.
The book is a limited edition andwe feel should be in t h e library of
every member. Beaumont Newhallof George Eastman House says,"In addition to its value f o r local
New Jersey historians, Mr. Moss'book is an excellent survey of t h ehistory of American photography
from the introduction of the daguerreotype in 1839 up to, but notincluding the prefection of the gelatin 'dry plate' in 1880: Here a r e
descriptions of the various processes and kinds of photographs
popular in America, liberally illustrated not only with reproductionsof examples, but also with woodengravings of appratus and wholepages in facsimile from instruction
manuals."
The retail price of "Double Exposure" is $12.95. However, Moss,
who is a member of our Association, has graciously allowed us tooffer t h e book to members a t$10.95. (Please include 50c postage
and handling.) I t should be notedt h a t this book h a s never before
been offered a t a reduced price.

*"Two Points Of View: T h e History of t h e Parlor Stereoscope",by t h e late Harold Jenkins, waswritten in 1957 and has long beenout of print. I t h a s just be re-published, in paperback, by t h e Warman Publishing Co.
The book contains 76 pages, 29
short chapters dealing with t h evarious c a t e g o r i e s of views, 5
pages illustrating different typesof viewers, and a short pricing
guide. Surprisingly, t h e pricing
guide seems to be fairly accurate
except in t h e a r e a of glass views
where i t falls f a r short. Perhaps
most useful might be t h e section
containing t h e illustrations of thevarious viewers.
The author dated most of t h eviewers and while we would disagree with some of t h e dating i t isstill a useful guide. There is, a f t e rall, very little written on viewers.

membercomment
I contemplate bringing the census
of known glass views in Americancollections up-to-date in a n earlyissue of "Stereo World" and request t h a t any one having any
glass views let me know of theirholdings, also requesting t h a t anyone knowing of the whereabouts ofglass views in other collections,either private or institutional, letme know so t h a t I may contact
them. I need t o know t h e name oft h e photographer or publisher andt h e number of views by each.
Howard Bendix, 28 Stanford Place,Monclair, New Jersey 07042.

six times a g e a r by t h e National
Stereoscopic Association, 1345 Tiverton Sq. N., C o l u m b u s , O h i o43219. Telephone (614) 885-9057.
O r 475 Chauncy Street, Mansfield,
Massachusetts, 02048. Telephone(617) 339-7602. Annual dues $10.
News items must be received a t
least t h r e e weeks before ~ u b l i c a tion date. Richard t us sack; editor;
John Waldsmith, managing editor.

Members seeking to establish acomplete stereo reference librarywill need t o have a copy of thisbook. I t is printed on heavy, glazed
paper, with a still heavier cover.
T h e retail price is $5.00. We a r eoffering it t o members a t $4.00.
(Please include 50c f o r postage
and handling.)*

Stereo Views: A History of
Stereographs in America and Their
Collection, t h e "book" on stereo
collecting by William Culp Darrah.
255 pages, 46 illustrations, alphabetical and geographical checklists of photographers and publishers. The number one reference
f o r our members. We a r e offering
it to members a t $6.95 (Postpaid)

In each issue of "Stereo World"
we will offer quality photocopies
of catalogs issued by stereo photographers or p u b l i s h e r s . The
originals of these catalogs a r e extremely r a r e and were they to beoffered f o r sale t h e prices would
probably be quite high. These catalogs a r e basic research material
and belong in t h e libraries of allserious students of photography. ,LANGENHEIM: 1861 - Thirty six
page catalog of the A m e r i c a npioneer of stereo views. Catalog
contains introductory r e m a r k s ,descriptions of m a g i c l a n t e r nslides and apparatus, microscopic
photographs, and stereoscopic pict u r e s on paper and glass. T h e section t h a t deals with stereo views
lists 170 views, along with a pricelist. Seven pages a r e devoted t olistenings of stereo views. Priceof this entire catalog is $2.50 f o r
members; $3.00 n o n - m e m b e r s .
(Please add 50c f o r postage andhandling.)

Q AND A
R. Russack asks, "I would like toknow more about 'The Florida
Club', names of members, dates ofoperation, subjects taken, etc."
T h e Editors ask "Does any member
own a view of a disaster (Fires,floods, tornados, etc.) before 1866.
What is t h e oldest view? We a r e
preparing a master list of diqasterviews. Let us know if you havesomething of interest."
P a g e FiveI

THE RAILROAD
WARLabor Strife in Pittsburgh

VIEW NO. 5. "Hillside opposite 28 Street, where citizens were shot." Shows destroyed cars and Albee's photographic
wagon.

VIEW NO. 7. One of three showing "Interiors of Upper Roundhouse." Gives some idea of the vast d e s t r u c t i o n oflocomotives and buildings.

The four views illustrated a r e from a set of 44 views taken by S. V. Albee, 784 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa., after
the Railroad War of July 21 and 22, 1877. Actually, this was one of the first major strikes in t h i s c o u n t r y . I t was
brought about when the Pennsylvania Railroad reduced t h e wages of its employees by a f l a t 10 per cent. The views
show the damage to the P.R.R. yards a t Pittsburgh. The reverse sides of the views contain a complete listing of the*set and the following introductory paragraph. "The following list of stereographs, taken from near 10th Street and 7th
Avenue, and extending to 33rd St. gives a complete historical view of the district burnt over. These a r e the only views
that were taken directly after the fire, and before the debris had been disturbed." I t is interesting to note t h a t the National Guard was called out, several people were killed, and the strike was unsuccessful.

VIEW NO. 16. One of three showing "Interior of Lower Roundhouse, where Troops were besieged."to another roundhouse and more engines.

VIEW NO. 28. "Opposite 16 St. looking up."the wooden supports burned and gave way.

Shows damage

Tracks appear to have been on a trestle and show what happened when

Page SevenCLASSIFIEDSFOR SALEWORLD WAR hy Keystone in original book cases, 261 of t h e original
300, cards mint, cases need repair,number and title of missing cards
included, $75 plus postage. Kermit
Dilts R.R. No. 8, Newark, Ohio
43055.

WANTED
PRE-1900 Asbury Park, Freehold,Long Eranch, Ocean Grove, Red
Bank, N.J. views. Including Anthony, Kilburn, L i t t l e t o n , andPach. Also New Jersey Stereoscopic View Co. views. T. McMahon, 142 L e x i n g t o n Ave., F a i r
Haven, N.J. 07701.

GLASS STEREOS by B i e r s t a d t
Bros; two of White Mountains, one
of Franconia M o u n t a i n s . V e r y
good. $25 each. 0. L. Shealy, 109
Walnut Ridge, Wilmington, Del.
19807.

WANTED - Marked Amateur Exchange Club, Northwestern Ohio
views a n d French Tissues. R. W.
Patterson, 921 Haley Ave., Napoleon, 0. 43545.

TWO JULES Richard 1924 Catalog
reprints - one in English, otherin French. Many halftones and figures of cameras, with halftone
stereo examples of 45 X 107 work.
$5 ppd. G. H. Kirkman, P.O. Box
24468, Los Angeles, Calif. 90024.
KEYSTONE and earlier views a t
25 cents each. More f o r ships,
Panama Canal, etc. Might be interested in purchasing a quantity.
Dr. C. R. Thayer, Apt. No. 3, 545
W. Neshannock Ave., New Wilmington, Pa. 16142
STEREO VIEWS f o r sale. Send f o r
f r e e lists. State t h e specific subjects you a r e interested in. Sample
lots s e n t on approval if desired.
Lester C. Hehn, 30 Manorhaven
Blvd., P o r t W a s h i n g t o n , N.Y.
11050.
TRADE
LINEX CAMERA a n d viewer Exc.
condition. Want to buy Graphic o r
Graflex stereo camera in f i n e condition. Charles Meyers, 1117 W.
Armstrong, Peoria, Ill. 61606.
PURCHASE o r t r a d e f o r views ofJacksonville, St. Augustine, all
Florida except Foilage. Have 270
of 300 Keystone WWI and partial
Sears and 100 Ingersol Comic set
lithos and singles. Many a r e a s t otrade. N. Clement Slade, J'., 1922
Sweet B r i a r Ln., Jacksonville, Fla.
32217.
TRADE - New England, Easterna n d Southern views to t r a d e f o r
good pre-1890 western town ands t r e e t scenes, transportation, Indians. No scenics. George V. Allen,
P.O. Box 570, L a w r e n c e , Kan.
66044.
Page Eight

OREGON s t e r e o s c o p i c v i e w s
wanted, f u r n i s h description including publisher number and condition
E. D. Culp, 595 - 24th Street NE,
Salem, Ore. 97301
GREECE - U & U No. 31, Norway- U & U No. 18, No. 71, Belgium- U & U No. 1- - Cath. of St.
Gudule. Wild Flowers - Keystone- F2, F9, F42, F53, F56, F62, F72,
F76. Ernest Petscher, 1325 S t u a r t
N.W., Massillon, Ohio 44646.

BUYING JULES Richard Homeos
camera a n d / o r accessories, Glyphoscope / Verascope accessories,
f i r s t model Verascope, R i c h a r dhand viewers and literature, andVerascope glass stereoviews, especially colored. Richard Lipack,
One Deepdale Dr., Randolph, N.J.
07801.
WILL BUY o r t r a d e f o r views I
need by Kilburns, Weller, Bennett,
Curtis, and Soule. Correspondence
desired with those interested in
Kilburn and Weller. T. K. Treadwell, 4201 Nagle Rd., Bryan, Tex.
77801.
NEED SPECIFIC view-cards tocomplete Keystone 600 card Educational series set. If y o u h a v e ,please write f o r list of our needs.
Also, will t r a d e from o u r surplus,
same set if interested. R. H. Bohman, R.R. No. 1, Cedar Rapids, la.
52401
PRE-1880's: Expositions ; Foreign,no scenics ; industry; interiors,
homes, stores, factories; occupat i o n a l ~; Pittsburgh and Environs ;Pennsylvania cities, towns and oilregions. P r e f e r to purchase outright. Describe and price. Donald
L. Weiss, 101 P a r k Lane, Beaver
Falls, Pa. 15010

WANTED: Asbury Park, Ocean
Grove, Long Branch, Monmouth
Beach, Sea Bright, H i g h l a n d s ,Shrewsbury, S a n d y H o o k , Red
Rank, Freehold, Monmouth Park,
Eatontown, Spring Lake and other
Jersey Shore views. Moss, Box 234,
Seabright, N.J. 07760.
WANTED: Views of Historical or
Anthropological I n t e r e s t . Early
America, "primitive" peoples, andlater boxed sets. James S. Benton,
3242 Sawtelle, Apt. 2, Los Angeles,
Cal. 90066$5 PAID FOR any stereo by HenryB r a t t of Akron, N.Y. c. 1870. Also
w a n t views of western New Yorks t a t e communities, any nice American glass, Lincoln. Early American stereo cameras. W. J. Stapleton, Akron, N.Y. 14001.

Standard
Terms
VIEWS
An "Excellent" view i s a clear,s h a r p image on a clean, undamaged mount. "Very good" is used todescribe a view slightly less perfect t h a n t h e above. There will be
no major defects in t h e view or
mount. A "Good" view is in about
average collectable condition. An
image may be slightly faded, corners may be rubbed o r t h e mount
map be stained. Please state if
views have folded or d a m a g e dmounts.

CAMERAS"New" - Equipment a s shippedfrom t h e manufacturer. "Mint" 100 per cent original finish, everything perfect, in new condition in
every respect. "Excellent" - 80
p e r cent t o 100 per cent original
finish, similar to new, used little,
no noticeable marring of wood o rleather, little o r no brassing, lensclean a n d clear, all mechanicalp a r t s in perfect working order.
"Very good" - 60 per cent original finish, item complete but woodo r leather slightly s c r a t c h e d ,scuffed, o r marred, metal worn but
no corrosion o r pitmarks. "Good"- 45 per cent o r i g i n a l finish,
minor wear on exposed surfaces,
no major broken p a r t s b u t may bein need of m i n o r r e p l a c e m e n t
parts, metal rusted or pitted inplaces b u t c l e a n a b l e , leather
scuffed a n d / o r aged. "Fair" - 25
per cent original condition, wellused a n d worn, in need of parts
replacement and refinishing.

CAVES, mountaineering or Alaska
stereoviews. Can use all cave material, e s p e c i a l l y early prints.
Mammoth Cave, Carlsbad Caverns
needed. I pay top p r i c e s . Also
books, postcards, etc. Charles R.
Pease Jr., 766 33rd Ave. B. NE,
Great Falls, Mont. 59404.
WANTED TO buy: Stereo viewcards : General E u r o p e a n andScenic Western America. R. S.
Dail, 149 E Avenue, Coronado, Cal.
92118.
WANTED: New Mexico Views;
Southwestern Indian Views; Views
by photographers W. H. Brown,
Bennett and Brown, Ben Wittick,
H. T. Heister, and G. C. Bennett.
Photo Archives, Museum of New
Mexico, Box 2087, Santa F e , N.M.
87501.
SEEKING TO buy 19th Century
quality-of-life and people pictures.
Also want Utah, Colorado, San
Francisco, B o s t o n , N a n t u c k e tIsland. Constance J a c o b s , 4684
Grosvenor Ave., Bronx, N.Y. 10471.
WANT STEREO and pre-1940 television literature and memorabilia.
WiM buy o r trade antique photographica. H. A. Layer, AV-SFSU,
1600 Holloway, San Francisco, Cal.
94132.
WANT TO purchase views of golf
players and scenes by Bay State
Publishing Co. or others. R. Kuntz,
235 E. Helena St., Dayton, 0.
45404.
WILL BUY o r trade my scenery,
any locality, f o r your large city
street scenes. Harold W. Cochran,8241 W. 44 Ave., Wheat Ridge,
Col. 80033.
PREMIUM prices paid f o r stereo
views of boxers and prize-fighting,fire engines, automobiles, early
airplanes and balloons. N o y e s
Huston, Box 449, Rancho Santa Fe,
Cal. 92067.

1-

CHICAGO AND Illinois s t e r e oviews wanted, t h e older t h e better.
Old post cards too, if you havethem. E a r l Moore, 152 Walnut St.,
Wooddale, Ill. 60191.
CANADIAN STEREO views, especially those of Hamilton, Ontario
a n d vicinity. F l a t mount views prefered. Have some American viewst o trade. Robert J. Dynes, 70 Galbraith Drive, Stoney Creek, Ontario, Can. L8G 1Z9.

CAVES (any except a t Niagara),
Kentucky, Advertising cards inwhich text on r e a r relates t o subject depicted. Views of many divers
subjects available f o r sale o r
trade. James Quinlan, Box 8, Mammoth Cave, Ken. 42259.
WILL PAY through t h e nose f o r :Amateur Photographic Exchange
Club views; pre-1880 stereo came r a s ; Homeos camera. Waterhouse
Stop, Box 472, Athens, 0. 45701.

SEEKING ANY Keystone production, and r e l a t e d publications.
Need representative catalog numbers. Buy o r trade. Good correspondent. Robert Wright, 503 Morton, Ashland, Or. 97520.

STEREO VIEWS of Pa. oil regions ; industrial ; a n d anything
on Pittsburgh a n d vicinity, particularly early views. Give details,
conditions (very good o r better
only), a n d price. Valentino Buttignol, 179 Glenfield Dr., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15235.

BUY OR TRADE: a n y views of t h e
Crystal Palace issued from 1851
to 1900; a n y views by Heywood,
Weller, F. W. Bell, o r P a c h ; allearly English comics a n d groups(tinted, pirated o r not). Ronald D.
Lowden, Jr., 314 Chestnut Ave.,
Narberth, Pa. 19072.

WANT STEREO views of T h e Citadel, t h e military college of South
Carolina. Also early military views
and views of photographers. A1 B.
Harley Jr., M.D., Box 3498, Florence, S.C. 29501.

WANTED - S t e r e o s of John
Rogers Groups of s t a t u a r y - will
buy o r trade. Aso minature handviewer with minature views. Mrs.
H. Schoewe, 18819 Purlingbrook,
Livonia, Mich. 48152.

VIEWS OF musicians (particularly flutists and fifers) ; early fineEuropean s c e n i c s ; early Muybridge stereos; female occupational~F. r e d Pajerski, 58 W. 8 t h St.
Apt. 5-D, New York, N.Y. 10011.
Page NineDEBUT(('ont. f r o m page '1)
w o r k i n g f o r Grady a t t h e t i m e :James F. Gibson, T i m o t h y O'Sulliv a n , Alexander Gardner and sonJames, W i l l i a m F. Pywell, David
Knox, D. B. W o o d b u r y , J . Reedie,
Stanley Morrow; H. Moulton, Samuel C. Chester, and Louis Landy.
A Library o f Congress catalogueo f t h e Brady holdings list t h e s eo t h e r s : T h o m a s C . Roche, S. R.
Siebert, W . Morris S m i t h , J. F .
Cooney and Fowx.
T h e initial retail price o f t h e s e
v i e w s , a t 75 cents and $1 each,m a d e t h e i r sale limited and probably accounts f o r t h e i r r a r i t y today.
A s w e follow B r a d y and O'Sulliv a n t o Sharpsburg i n t h e fall o f
1862, and t h e Battle o f A n t i e t e m ,w e find t h a t m o s t o f t h e resulting
stereo v i e w s bear a n O'Sullivan
credit line, lending t o t h e t h e o r yt h a t Brady w a s primarily operati n g w i t h a l a r g e camera, w h i l e
O'Sullivan h a n d 1 e d t h e stereowork.
I t w a s probably i n December
1862 t h a t Alexander Gardner andh i s son James tired o f w o r k i n g
f o r Brady, and l e f t h i s employ. I ndoing so, t h e y took w i t h t h e m allt h e negatives t h e y had executed,
along w i t h n u m e r o u s others. Manyo f t h e m , w h i c h originally bore a
B r a d y credit line, w e find later
published u n d e r Gardner's n a m e
and still l a t e r a p p e a r i n h i s"Photographic Sketchbook o f t h eWar."According t o Darrah, Gardner's
stereo production f o r t h e w a r covered approximately 900 v i e w s ;t h e y were published apparently
f r o m t h e beginning o f 1863 untilh e sold h i s gallery i n 1866. T h e y
w e r e printed on a light yellow
card stock and t i t l e d , "Incidents
o f t h e War." Many o f t h e v i e w s
w e r e credited t o O'Sullivan, Gibson and G. N. Barnard. W h a t is interesting i s t h a t t h e Library o f
Congress Brady collection cont a i n s m o s t o f t h e s e original negat i v e s , all n e a t l y labeled "Incidents
o f t h e War." T h e Library counts
some 600 original plates f r o m t h i sseries, bearing n u m b e r s f r o m No.
1-NO. 1287.
Darrah recounts t h a t t h e Gardner's w e n t back t o t h e fields o fbattle f o r G e t t y s b u r g , probably as
photographers f o r t h e A r m y Secret
Service. T h e y w e n t w i t h Gibson
and O'Sullivan, t o t a k e approxim a t e l y 50 v i e w s b e t w e e n J u l y 5
and 8, 1863. In t e r m s o f q u a n t i t y ,t h e Gardner v i e w s m a y b e conPage T e nsidered scarce, a s t h e y did n o t appear i n t h e standard A n t h o n y cata l o g ; t h i s large f i r m w a s usedm e r e l y a s a wholesale agent, andn o t as a publisher.
It w a s a f t e r t h e Battle o f Gettysb u r g , t h a t Brady realized h i s o w n
failures i n t h e publishing field.
At t h i s point, and possibly i n lieu
o f payment o f several thousand
dollars i n debts t o t h e A n t h o n y s
f o r e q u i p m e n t and supplies, Brady
turned over a set o f h i s negatives
t o t h e m f o r publishing and distribution. U n d e r t h e t i t l e o f "Photographic H i s t o r y / W a r f o r t h eUnion," t h e s e v i e w s began t o appear a t t h e e n d o f 1863. A s i tturned o u t , however, o f t h e 600v i e w s t h a t Brady had reportedly
produced since t h e beginning o f
t h e w a r , only about 250 w e r e published b y t h e A n t h o n y s . T h i s lenscredence t o t h e t h o u g h t t h a t w h e n
Gardner l e f t Brady's employ, h el e f t w i t h some 350 negatives.
T h e f i r s t r u n o f Anthony-Brady
w a r v i e w s numbered i n t h e A n t h o n y series f r o m about No. 2275No. 2522; t h i s covers t h e battles
t h r o u g h Gettysburg. A d d i t i o n a ltitles f o r t h e W a r f o r t h e U n i o nseries, No. 2523-No. 2723, cover av a r i e t y o f subjects - Nashville,
Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain,
and others. T h e y are, however, amixed assortment o f photographers, as t h e Anthonys had purchasedf r o m other photographers, and had
assigned t h e i r o w n , Roche, t o stillother campaigns.
Other A n t h o n y w a r stereo v i e w s ,according t o Darrah, n u m b e r No.
810-No. 1510, and No. 1990- No.
2275, t h e f o r m e r probably t a k e n i n1861 (including t h e initial Roches e r i e s ) , and t h e latter i n 1863.
T h e " W a r f o r t h e Union" seriescame t o a b r i e f end about No. 2723,
w h i c h carried t h e w a r t o t h e beginning o f 1865. T h e s e had been
published on yellow card stock,rather t h a n t h e earlier pink stock.
I t n o w resumed about v i e w No.
3030 and ran t o No. 3500. T h e r e
are some duplicates i n t h i s r u n ,as negatives w e r e again purchasedfrom different phot ographe rs.
T h e r e are s o m e additional 200
B r a d y i t e m s included, as h e covered Ft. S u m t e r and i t s rededicat i o n i n April 1865. T h e A n t h o n y ' s
also included a series o f 20 v i e w s
o f t h e Grand Review o f t h e Armies
o n May 23-24, 1865.
T h e total Library o f Congress"Brady" collection ( n o t includingt h e separate Gardner series mentioned earlier) shows some 2500
plates, w i t h n u m b e r s No. 1-NO.
4031.

T h i s essentially ended t h e production o f A n t h o n y C i v i l W a r
stereo v i e w s ; t h e r e w a s a move t orevive t h e m i n t h e 1870's; t h i s
production on red m o u n t s did n o t
m e e t w i t h m u c h success.
Other photographers o f w h o m
w e can make mention as having
produced stereo v i e w s during t h e
Civil W a r include t h e following:
S a m A . Cooley, "Photographero f t h e 10th Army." His v i e w s weret a k e n at various southern points
as t h e y surrendered t o t h e advancing U n i o n armies.
John P. Soule o f B o s t o n . Hetraveled t o Ft. Sumter i n 1865 i n
t h e company o f Roche, Brady, andBarnard.
Barnard's series o f Ft. Sumteri s nearly always unidentified i n
t h e f i r s t series and can only be
identified b y m a t c h i n g w i t h alater, identified reprint series.
C. J . T y s o n o f Gettysburg created a n e f f e c t i v e business w i t hsome 100 v i e w s o f t h e battlefielda f t e r t h e war. His partner, W . H.
T i p t o n , eventually bought t h e busin e s s and added v i e w s , specializing
i n t h e photography o f t h e battlefield monuments. He added some
500 v i e w s t o t h e series, sellingt h e m t o tourists as late as 1905.
Ropes & Co., o f N e w Y o r k , took
possibly as m a n y as 100 v i e w s andpublished t h e m i n t h e 1862-64
period. Some o f t h e views, accordi n g t o Darrah, m a y date t o 1861,
and bear a strong resemblance t osome o f those o f Stacy.
T h e Bierstadt Brothers o f N e w
B e d f o r d , Mass. also took a serieso f some 50 v i e w s during t h e war.
Peter S. and Harmon E. W e a v e r ,under a series titled, "Gems o f t h eBattlefield o f Getgsburg," issued
some 80 v i e w s i n 1863.
Bell Brothers, o f W a s h i n g t o n ,D.C., prepared a series on Arlingt o n National Cemetery between
1865 and 1868.
Other A r m y p h o t o g r a p h e r slisted b y t h e Library o f Congressinclude R . M . Cressey, E . Meyer,
A. J . Russell, Jacob S. Vreeland,
W e a r n e , and E. T . W h i t n e y .
Stereo photography during t h eAmerican Civil W a r began a n e w
age f o r stereo; actual stop-action
photos o n t h e battlefield wouldn o t really b e possible until WorldW a r I, b u t even so, a n e w dimension had been added t o t h e brutali t y o f war.
European conflicts were covered
throughout t h e last h a l f o f t h enineteenth c e n t u r y w i t h stereo
photography, b u t t h e greatest historical record w a s produced during t h e 1860's.

t o Rick Russack and John Waldsinith f o r t h e i r enterprise, which cannot help
but increase and deepen i n t e r e s t i n t h e wonderful world of Stereo:
And greetings to our old f r i e n d s and those we hope to gainFor those who do not know us, l e t us say t h a t we have been c o l l e c t i n g , buying,and ( ~ e s ! ) s e l l i n g s t e r e o s f o r over t h i r t y years. We have had the honor andexcitement of handling such outstanding c o l l e c t i o n s as those of t h e l a t e Elias
Barkey, D r . Guy L. Howe, Vincent Mercaldo, and others.
We have no s t o r e o r hizh overhead, and t h i s makes it possible f o r us t o pay moregenerously than other d e a l e r s and many c o l l e c t o r s when we buy stereos. Consider,f o r example, our current o f f e r s i n a few categories:
Anthony No. 1 (Regular s e r i e s ) $25,00
Chatham Island
10,OO upCuba
3.00 up
We a r e a l s o looking f o r
Instantaneous
3.00 UP
breas t p i n s with jmprint
California ( e a r l y s e r i e s ) 2.00 up
Others50#-$200.00
on back of National Miniature
Gallery (name may be abbreviAutomobiles, pre World War T,ated). These should containclose-up$1.00-$10.00
at i n y Daguerreotype. Our
Airplanes , pre-World War T $2,50-$12.50
o f f e r i s $250 t o $500 eachB i e r s t a d t Bros,
western and New
i n f i n e condition. (please do
Bedford, including whaling $ 5 4 2 5
n o t r e s t o r e Dag. i f it is(higher f o r glass examples)tarnished! )Carbutt- Rocky M t . s e r i e s and$3415
Capt. Fisk Expedition
We a l s o buy old postcards,
Daguerreotype s t e r e o s ( n o t i nprimarily those before 1915,$100 upcase- other than statuary)
Grinnell o r Hayes Sxpedition$10 upi n unpicked l o t s o r albums(higher on glass)o r selected items.
Mascher Stereoscopic Locket,
with views o r p o r t r a i t$350
And so on through the a l p h a b e t a l l p r i c e s f o r items i n a t l e a s t f i n e condition.

""-

I n general, we w i l l buy anything of q u a l i t y , e i t h e r singly i n t h e case of r a r i t i e s ,o r i n large l o t s o r c o l l e c t i o n s i n t h e case of a v a i l a b i l i t y . We can use westernviews, a l l transportation- t r a i n , canal boat, ship, harbor, levees, e t c , , etc.,
industry, s t o r e s , o t h e r i n t e r l o r s , occupations, photographers and t h e i r studioso r equipment, m i l i t a r y subjects, a l l c e l e b r i t i e s , and foreign views, e s p e c i a l l yolder ones. Comics and genre also. Paper, t i s s u e s , glass, etc.

FOR SALE:
Except f o r very r a r e s i n g l e items, we prefer t o s e l l what comes our way i n l o t s .
This saves us time, and o f f e r s you a chance to buy t o advantage, e s p e c i a l l y as
we sell the gems along with the l e s s dramatic views. Let us know your wants.
FREDERICK S . LIGHTFOOT 3 - l COURT DXVE HITK'TTNGTON ST,!., N.Y. 11746

Page Eleven

Was It The First?

KILBURN(Cont. from page 3 )a s a studio photo of a statue, or aflower arrangement. I t is q u i t e
confusing in his early output tofind a s many a s three subjects,
and seven different n e g a t i v e s ,bearing t h e same number.
In addition to his standard, serially-numbered views, Kilburn also
produced a series of some 900 cabinet-sized stereos from 1877 t o
1880, and a r a t h e r strange little
series of standard-sized views withnumbers from one to about 180, in
1877. The latter seems t o have been
an attempt to "start over" in his
numbering, which w a s q u i c k l yabandoned. He also produced alimited group of non-stereo views,
usually from one side of a stereograph, and, according to Lorraine
Dexter, some lantern slides.
Kilburn's work was divided into
several major classes: First, t h emany geographic series, in which
popular areas such a s Washington,
D.C., New England, or t h e "GrandTour" countries of Europe werecovered in a group of sequentiallynumbered views. As f a r a s I candetermine, however, he never is-Page Twelve

sued boxed sets, a s did Underwood. Often these were repeatedly
re-done and updated; there are, f o r
example, five different sets on
Switzerland, and nine on Niagara
Falls. On t h e other hand, Mexico,t h e subject of some of his finest
personal work, was never redone.
Some areas were unaccountably
slighted; he seems to have nevervisited t h e Pacific N o r t h w e s t
photographically until 1896, nort h e F a r E a s t until 1900.
Another major c a t e g o r y was
events of wide current interest tot h e public. Here we find records oft h e Chicago World's F a i r , t h e Russian Coronation, and dozens ofminor expositions and s t a t e fairs.
Third was his coverage of unplanned events - t h e equivalentof today's news photography. This
included the Boston Fire, t h e Spanish-American War, t h e San Francisco Earthquake, t h e Kansas City
Flood, and many others.
Finally, a major stock in tradewere t h e s e n t i m e n t a l or genre
photos - a category which canrange from copies of religious
cycloramas to a long series on
marriage; from comedy to pathos.
In the emotional days of t h e Vic-

The stereo viewer illustrated
seems to be a previously unrecorded example of a viewer byLangenheim and Loyd. I t is in theform of a book, with eyepieces inthe spine. Opposite t h e spine is aground glass, indicating t h a t theviewer was designed for glass
views.
The dimensions a r e : 8 inchesfrom the top of t h e spine to thebottom, by 7 inches from t h e spine
to the ground glass. The viewer
is 3:!4 inches high.
The cover opens to show twelve
grooves running so t h a t twelve
glass views could be stored andplaced wherever needed for viewing. The viewer has two patent
dates: Nov. 19, 1850 and April 15,
1856. The earlier date is the datet h a t appears on glass views by
Langenheim and may not refer toa viewing device. The 1856 dateis of the Loyd patent for a viewing device. We have written the
P a t e n t Office for clarification ont h e 1850 date but have, a s yet, received no reply. If the 1850 dateapplies to a viewer patent i t would
probably be t h e earliest known
American viewer.
Does anyone have any o t h e r
Langenheim-Loyd v i e w e r , otherthan this leather covered box witht h e lift up top? I t so, send in a
picture and we will publish it.
torian era, these sold well, andperhaps a s much as 10 per cent of
his total output was in this line.
One thing he avoided completely
was any off-color subject. He did
reproduce sever1 nude paintingsand s c u l p t u r e s , but these were"classics", and socially acceptable.
With one single exception (No.
7740, "The Morning Bath") I haveseen nothing of his which approached adult nudity or smut. He
catered to the family trade, andleft t h e racy subjects to other companies.
T h e Kilburn operation, in summary, is a fascinating one of whichlittle is fully known over its longexistence. There a r e many specialized problems for collectors :Sorting out, on the basis of allavailable views, the cycles of issue
and replacement in his very earlyviews. What was behind his abortive a t t e m p t a t re-numbering?
What was the progressive positionof Davis in t h e operation? What
were the outlines of his distribution system? These questions andmany others will keep students
busy for years, and collaboration
among those interested will bemost essential.

.-P

'

CI

Gideon W e l l e s

O n the evening of March 8, 1862, the Federal
blockading squadron at the mouth of the JamesQ) River was in utter chaos. During the day, the Confederate ironclad Virginia (built on the hull of t h e oldV) frigate Merrimar) had steamed o u t into the waters ofHampton Roads and simply run amuck. T h e Cumberhn11had been rammed and sunk, the C o q m burned
Q to the water line, and the flagship, the fifty-gun
steam frigate Minnesota, had run solidly aground. O n
the morrow, the Confederates would be back to(0 finish the job and then, once loose in the Chesapeake,probably steam up the Potomac and shell Washington. There was nothing to stop them.
Well, almost nothing. About midnight there(d arrived on the scene a bizarre vessel that looked tosome like nothing so much as a "cheesebox on a raft."Fresh from the builders in New York, she hadV) steamed up the bay that evening, her course marked
I by the pyre of the burning Congress. Come morning,Q) the Monitor would fight the Victoria to a draw, the[1_ Federal blockade and Washington would be saved,
and untold praise would be showered upon John
Ericcson, Monitor's Swedish-born designer. In the excitement, few would recall that Ericcson's ironclad might
never have left the drawing board but for the foresightand tireless efforts of Navy Secretary Gideon Welles.
Welles was a Democrat w h o had broken with his party
over the slavery issue. Born in Glastenbury, Conn., in Julyof 1802, he had a distinguished early career as a newspaper
editor and member of the state legislature. An early supporter of Andrew Jackson, Welles was rewarded with thepostmastership of Hartford. As a Navy Bureau Chief
under Polk he acquired contacts and experience that would
prove of exceptional value later on.
It was fortunate that Presidents saw fit toappoint Welles
to responsible posts, for h e failed in bids for Congress, theSenate, and the governorship. In the early 1850rs,with theuncertain status of slavery in Kansas at the forefront of the

.-

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+

0

by Richard C. Rydernational conscience, Welles was one of the founders of the
Republican Party in Connecticut, helped to organize theHartford Evening Pms, a key Republican paper, and headed
the state delegation to the Convention of 1860.
Gideon Welles was one of Abraham Lincoln's most fortunate Cabinet appointments. Despite persistent criticism
and a few blunders, he ran the Navy Department with anefficiency and economy that contrasted favorably withthat of t h e Army. Faced with a miscellaneous collection ofwooden vessels that were either overage o r overseas andwith many key personnel decamped to the Confederacy,
Welles built up the Union Navy from next to nothing.
H e early foresaw that the w a r would be a long o n e andplanned accordingly. As early as March of 1861, Welles had
become interested in ironclads. By August h e was examining Ericcson's detailed plans and belaboring Congress forappropriations. It took his o w n personal intervention to
ram a ten-million dollar ironclad bill through t h e Senate.
Ericcson got his contracts, the Navy got the Monitor and its
kin barely in time, and t h e Confederacy as a result got
precious little help from Europe.
Although Welles was never much good at delegating
authority, his indefatigable energy allowed him to beseemingly everywhere, supervising closely over every
facet of t h e Navy. H e urged expansion of navy yards,
backed steam engineering a t Annapolis, and crusaded unsuccessfully for fast, seagoing, ironclad cruisers to equal
those in European fleets. He supervised operations inalmost microscopic detail.
A commanding figure whose flowing white whiskers
gave him t h e appearance of an "old Mormon deacon,"
Welles was a keen judge of men and his meticulous diaries
provide a highly personal behind-the-scenes look at theworkings of the Lincoln Administration and Cabinet(continued on page 51)

Honorable Gideon Welles, Srrr~tapO/ U.S. N o ~ y#4. 770 by E. tqH. T:
Anflrot~y.(Gordon Hoffmnrr roll~rtionl

by David Starkman
Current information on stereo TODAY: new equipment,
developments, magazine and newspaper articles, or 3-D
events. This column depends on readers for information.
(We don't know everything.) Send information or questions
to David Starkman, PO Box 35, Duarte, CA 91010.

STEREO IN JAPAN TODAY
by Rob Oechsle
with additions by David Starkman and Susan Pinsky
For a country that is smaller in size than the state ofCalifornia, o r even the state of Montana, Japan has done apretty good job of making a name for itself in the economic
world. For one reason o r another, Japan keeps popping up
in the news, and her output of consumer goods has foundits way t o almost every corner of the earth. Most of us arefamiliar with the Japanese cameras, watches, electronics,
and automotive products w e either own o r see advertised.
Perhaps due to these reasons, many have assumed thatJapan is a t the forefront of contemporary 3-D. I haveheard that many people outside of Japan think that 3-D
television programming and 3-D movies are regular fare
for the Japanese. Recently the sentiment has been expressed t o me that, being in Japan, I must be able to moreeasily collect those fine old stereographs issued in Japan,such as those noted by Darrah (and some N O T noted by
Darrah), and to pick up the historical data relevant to thephotographers. In order t o answer these sentiments,
rumors and conceptions as best as possible, I would like toprovide my fellow NSA members, on o u r l o t h anniversary, with a report of things AS THEY REALLY ARE in
thenLand of the Rising Sun". Both what there IS and what
there is N O T might surprise a few folks, but one thing issure: for those that have t o have something of everything,
Japan has quite a few things t o offer. And so, read about
the 3-D world of Japan!

tion's memory . . . at least the first since World War 2. In its
first year and a half membership grew to around 200, andhas leveled off there for the present. Currently appointed
president is Kuzuya Shima, an author and authority on
both contemporary and historical photography. Of interest is the fact that his grandfather, Hayao Yoshikawa,
was an avid stereographer in pre-WW2 Japan, and also theauthor of nearly 250 books and articles on photography.
Presently, JASPA meets once a year in Tokyo for theusual discussions, lectures and 3-D presentations. T h efocus is purely contemporary, as opposed to the more historical orientation of the NSA get-togethers. The Association magazine, simply titledl'JASPA", should have published issue #3 by the time you read this. Of note is the factthat it has little or n o 3-D illustrations on its pages. The
first issue was basically an introduction to the history ofstereo photography, and what modern systems are available. T h e second issue contained more of the same, but inmore detail. Photos illustrated Nimslo, LEEP, and even a
picture of Susan Pinsky demonstrating 3-D slide storage
pages. Advice on do-it-yourself 3-D started right off bysuggesting you charter a plane and fly around and getsome good hypers! (This might be a small country, butpeople think big!)T h e reason for little or no stereo illustration (taken fromphotos) is because founder and magazine editor Meikichi
Okamura doesn't like the loss of quality in black and white
halftones. He plans to start including REAL STEREOCOLOR PRINTS (close to the German format of 6 by 13
centimeters, with 10% larger color photos) to illustrate thearticles.

NSA members are invited t6 join! Besides at least 2
issues of JASPA magazine a year, new members get a brass
keychain engraved with the JASPA logo of an old stereo
camera, and your official membership number. You ALSO
get a Steretta cardboard stereo viewer and a few sample
color stereo prints as mentioned above. (An explanation of
how to get membership and equipment information is at
the end of this article.)

J.A.S.P.A.
T h e Ja'pan Amateur Stereo Photographic Association
sends you all congratulations on the 10th anniversary of
the NSA. JASPA, founded by photographic collector andpresident of T O A P H O T O CO., Meikichi Okamura, willbe 2 years old this July. UASPA's first meeting was July 1,
1982.) It is Japan's first stereo association in this genera-

Time-Scope Meiji Japan 114 card boxed set with viewer.

As mentioned above, JASPA is primarily geared t o thecontemporary scene. . . historical discussions usually concern camera equipment rather than the views taken withthem. T h e reason is simple: historical stereo views arepractically nonexistent in Japan. Japanese issues d o notexist. Foreign issues d o not exist. There is n o buying,selling, o r trading of views. N o dealers at flea markets . . .
and n o flea markets! In Japan, there are n o Waldsmiths o r
Wheelers . . . not a single Rusty Norton-type to be found.
No auctions o r advance lists. Not even antique dealers
who keep a few boxes on the side. T h e LAST place you willfind any kind of Japan views is, of all places, Japan.
Though not to the extent of "western" nations, there
WAS a stereo market in Japan from the beginning of 3-D
photography. Primarily, Japanese customers were well-todo, and in the large metropolitan areas. Even Japanesemade Holmes-type viewers had their markets among theJapanese. Class distinctions, and the lack of such a thing as
Keystone's Educational System, prevented the spread topurchased by JASPA's founder, Meikichi Okamura. In 30
years of collecting antique photographica, h e has foundonly about 100 Japanese-issued views, most all being turnof-the-century material. T h e bulk of his stereo collection,
which contains several hundred views of Japan, is of the
KeystonelUnderwood variety - purchased in t h e UnitedStates and Europe during his years of business travel.
Also, in all m y research s o far, I have found that theJapanese generally seem to know n o more than w h a t has
been written in Darrah's books about Japan's stereo
history. In fact, The World of Stereographs is o n e of six books
on JASPA's recommended reading list!
Because of this, the following was done:
In preparation for the founding of JASPA, t w o years
were spent taking the best stereo views from Okamura's
stereo collection, copying them in sepia-tone, and mounting them in black die-cut mounts with gold stamping.
Beautiful hand-made viewers were produced to accompany t h e 114 card set, which was completed with amatching wood storage box. During that t w o years 1,000of these identical boxed sets were produced and stockpiled

rural areas. Views were bought mostly as higher classamusement, and collected in the wealthier industrial areas
like Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya.. . Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
etc. T h e last t w o cities mentioned will most vividly describe what happened to the many collections that once
existed. Tokyo and the rest were heavily fire-bombed.
Even before that, the Great Kanto plain earthquake in
1923 leveled a great portion of Tokyo and central portionsof Japan, taking with them most of the views that collected and existed there u p until that time.
In the clean-up after WW2, much was also thrownaway. Only now, on rare occasion, will a handful of views
surface - accidently found. In the past 5 years probably
not more than 100views have surfaced, and those in a few
lots. Usually the people finding them don't know what todo, and, feeling that they have some worth, take them to a
local used book dealer. Almost all of these have been

to go on sale a t the founding meeting of JASPA in July
1982. With most Japanese people under age 40 not evenknowing that 3-D pictures of old Japan ever existed, thiswas such a surprise that the event was covered in local
newspapers, and even made t h e evening news broadcast!
To quote Okamura,"I had to d o it. I have t o share this 3-D
history with t h e Japanese people. This generation has n oidea of what life was like in Japan before the war. With this,
now they can see."
Currently about 500 of this numbered limited edition
have been sold. Plans are under way for more reproduction
issues of views only, s o that those with sets may add totheir collection. In t h e future, these will probably be tradedjust as t h e originals are. T h e card size is smaller than t h e
3 K x T o r i g i n a l format, being about 3-%"~55/,-with images
about 2%"~21/4: T h e centers a r e actually a t about 2%",making them much easier to free view. T h e viewer for theJAPAN A N D OLD STEREO VIEWS

set matches this size, which seems to be becoming the current Japanese print"standardf'. Printing service is a similar
size (with mounts that a r e 3V1t."xS5/,")available here fornegatives taken in Realist-format cameras.

boys, with characters like Godzilla and super hereoes like
Ultra-Man. Hyper-stereo is the norm, and the stereo window is often ignored. Like View-Master, there is currently
n o attempt to offer scenic, travel o r educational subjects.

POST WAR CONTEMPORARY STEREO

CAN-LOOK

If you w a n t to call t h e early 1950's rise of stereo in

Made by Kyowa Film Company, this item is for sale attourist attractions ONLY, with views of the local area.
This is by far the best commercial 3-D item available in thesmall format category. T h e viewer is essentially an updated
version of the Tru-Vue, Bruguiere o r Lestrade-type card
system, but with 12 stereo transparencies on each card.
All of the views tend to be on the slightly "hyper"side, but
for the most part they are excellent and colorful; definitely
the best 3-D souvenir of Japan available to NSA members.
Arrangements have been made for NSA members to beable to purchase a viewer with a representative collectionof 20 cards (240 views). See details at the end of the article.
Subjects include Pink Lady, Japanese Baseball (with hyperstereos of the great Oh-san hitting a home run andbreaking the record), Japanese castles, race cars, movie
location shooting, wild animal parks, and lots of beautiful
scenic Japan views. Well worth it for those wanting something new and different in this type of format.

America a "BOOM", then you would have to say that inJapan it was more like a cap-gun. It was never more thanan intense fad, kept alive mostly by porno, with the wholething dying o u t before things in America did. There weren o big ad campaigns like Realist had. Of course, theJapanese bought their share of 3-D cameras, but Japan's
biggest marketplace was in the "West". "Made in Japanf'did
not always mean "marketed"in Japan. N o o n e here seems
to recollect 3-D movies, either. If there were any shown
here they probably came from the U.S.A. and ran with
subtitles.

3-D IN JAPAN TODAY

,

+ ,

$1-

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WL'-

'ANORAMA

View-Master and Other Similar Items
View-Master came to Japan about 20 years ago, and was
distributed and sold by Prince Optical Company until
January 1983. About 100,000 units were sold during those
20 years.
Recently, in a new deal, distribution was taken over by
the T O M Y T O Y Company (makers of the Tomytronic
3-D games) and re-introduced t o the Japanese consumer
with a heavy 6 m o n t h ad campaign on T V and in magazines. This began in January 1983, and by t h e end of theyear 70,000 units had been sold! Production is being done
completely in t h e Portland, Oregon factory, with theAmerican model viewer (except for the T O M Y namebeing added to the mold). T h e packaging is done in Japan.
Currently only Disney characterltheme reels are available.

3-D DEMERAMA
Made by the Bandai Toy Co., this is View-Master's only
real competitor. T h e views are placed side-by-side on
plastic framed strips (brought out to normal eye separation
by mirrors). T h r e e strips a t a time can be loaded into t h ehandle of the viewer, and then viewed in sequence by depressing a lever. T h e subject material is aimed a t young

Caption side of a CANLOOK card. Color photos of detailsfrom someof
the D ~ P W Sare printed on the other side.

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Although this item was supposedly sold o u t t w o years
ago, it is so unusual that is must be mentioned. It is t h emost inspiring viewer that I have ever seen with regard tosome of the modern potentials of 3-D. This viewer was
originally produced for the World's Fair at Osaka in 1970.
It was the work of Kazuo Uchida, w h o photographed thesights of Japan with a pair of 6cmx9cm Mamiya Press
cameras, with wide angle lenses to match. Masking thetops and bottoms of the views gave a super panoramic
format. These were ingeniously optically printed as 20
views on a long strip of 35mm film. To make t h e views
appear continuous, while at the same time allowing forimages that were often wider than a comfortable eyespacing distance, the right and left images were printed on
two rows, one above and offset in relation to the other. In
a arrangement that is simple, yet complex t o describe
without illustration, the images are channeled to each eye
through mirrors, with slightly different focal length lenses
compensating for the different path length.

PAN-PET1

Eyepieces

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,,- , F : ,.., ,. i, ;, t:.,a v , *,.* l ~,,,,:.;., , ~.:;~;::~~';;..(,,- “ . .. .'v'r-*. C . ~
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PAN PET PANORAMIC STEREO VIEWER

Tranrlvcent
cover

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Winding knobs

A sample pair frorrr tlr~r
C A N L O O K m n l on s t ~ ~ t nlocornotioes.

T h e result is a continuous stereo filmstrip, with some
images s o wide that you have to "pan" through them tosee the whole image. This has been the most successful
3-D product marketed in Japan to date, with over 300,000
units being sold since they were introduced. Even though
they a r e "sold out" they a r e well worth looking for. If you
can't find one, however, don't worry too much: plans arebeing made to possibly introduce another one in the next
couple of years.

NEW 3-D PRODUCTS ANDSERVICES IN JAPAN
FUJI C O L O R STEREO PRINT SERVICE. T O A
P H O T O will process any color negative film that is exposed in a Realist-format camera by mounting each stereo
negative pair in a special mount for their automatic printer.
They will then print full-color stereo views on a single pimvof Fuji Color paper that is about 21/2"~5''with the images
themselves being 2I/Rnx21/RN.T h e overall size is very similar
to the old German"Raumbild" standard. T h e same service
is offered for twin 2%"~21/,"negativesfrom twin mediumformat cameras (or Sputnik, if you have one). T h e prints
may be viewed as-is, o r placed in die-cut buff mounts
which match the size described earlier for t h e antiquereproductions. This makes the viewscompatible with theDeluxe Sterettascope that comes with the boxed set ofviews, o r is also available separately.
STEREO VIEWER SV-1A. If you can't find a Radex
Binocularscope for your twin 35mm slides here is asuperior substitute. T h e body is black bakelite, with
60mm f I 1 glass lenses, focusing, fixed 65mm interocular,
and a diffuser for available light viewing. Twin 35mm
slides are slipped into metal frame holders. Five come withthe viewer, and extras a r e available in boxes of 50. T w othicknesses are available; one for Kodak-style cardboard
mounts, the other for thicker plastic mounts. It is also
possible to use t h e Reel 3-D Enterprises Full-Frame slip-in
mounts with a small amount of end trimming.
STEREO VIEWER SV-2A. This is a beauty! It is essentiallythe twin 2 W v e r s i o n of t h e SV-IA, and it takes the prize
for big, bright and beautiful 3-D. Body is of ABS plastic inblack o r silver, with 80mm f l l lenses, focusing with focus
lock and 63mm to 6 9 m m interocular adjustment. Also foravailable light, it is an impressive new viewer which can
open u p a new world of stereo viewing for those working

FUJI C O L O R
STEREO PRINTSERVICE.
in the 2'/4"format w h o wish the vibrancy of transparency
film. It is like a giant Realist format. This also uses metalframes which take the twin cardboard-mounted 2Wpairs.

UFO EIGHT STATION VIEWER. This looks like a flying
saucer on a pedestal, with eight viewer positions, eachholding one full-frame 35mm stereo pair, arranged aroundthe rim. Perfect for a display o r a museum. Quite
expensive.
3-D AUTO VIEWER. A pedestal viewer which holds 20
2%" stereo pairs on a continuous belt. This is a very expensive viewer for commercial applications, featuring
automatic push-button advance and is available for coin
operation.
SLIDE BARS A N D TWIN CAMERA BARS. Several manufacturers are making these in sizes for the compact
35mm cameras up to twin medium-format cameras.
STlTZ STEREO ADAPTER FOR CAMERAS A N D
PROJECTORS. T h e Stitz system is essentially a moresophisticated beam splitter attachment, with mirror andaperture adjustments. A lighted slide viewer, print viewer
and projection adapter are all available.
O D D SIZE MOUNTS. Dragon Optical Co. makesf'EasyMount" t v ~ ecardboard mounts for half-frame transparencies ; both vertical and horizontal formats. They
also make a modern version of the Mascher stereocase in
the Form of a LARGE book of matches. When opened it
actually reveals a pair of lenses a t one end and 6 pages towhich you can mount your o w n print views at the other.
CUBlK A-54. This is a folding print viewer for postcard
size stereo prints, made of cardboard, but with cleverinterocular adjustment of the lenses.

3-D MOVIES IN JAPANYou aren't going t o believe this, but only one (1)3-D
movie has made the rounds in Japan in the past 20 years(or was it 3 0 ? . . . nobody seems to remember). And that
one was "Friday the 13th, Part 3 in 3-D': This one had
everyone leaping o u t of their seats, a t least when the

projectionist had the alignment set up right! (There werethe usual bad projection reports, too.) By the time this is
published "Jaws 3 - D should be arriving here (scheduled
for March o r April release). As far as I have been able todiscover, there is no recollection here of any Japanesemade 3-D feature films, and if you have heard of any theymust have been shown somewhere other than Japan.
In spite of the recent Hollywood 3-D movie boom, noJapanese companies have jumped on the bandwagon, withthe exception of the production company Filmlink International. Filmlink has been bankrolling a 3-D retrospective
film called "The 3-D Movie" which is described as sort of a"That's Entertainment" of 3-D. It contains 3-D clips fromdozens of 1950's 3-D movies, and has also dug up scenes
from earlier 3-D works from Germany, France, and eventhe 1939 World's Fair. Although financed in Japan, the film
was made by the Hollywood division of Filmlink, headed
by Len Schrader. It is scheduled for initial release in Japan,
and U.S. distribution is currently being sought. As far as
anyone knows, no original 3-D productions are being
planned here.
There have been some recent "short"3-D films shown.
O n e was a 10 minute short shown in a Tokyodepartment
store. Another that has been on display is an "industrial"
short made for the Nissan Motor Co. (Datsun). It is being
shown to 30 peopleat a time in their Tokyo headquarters.
These types of films are definitely rare, and strictly local
in nature.

3-D TELEVISION
Last year an anaglyphic version of the 3-D. movie"Gorilla at Large" was shown on local Tokyo TV. This is
the same one that was processed by 3-D Video Corporation of North Hollywood, and shown in over 100 cities allover the United States. Just like in many cities in theU.S.,
the glasses were sold at local 7-Eleven food stores. (Yes,there are 7-Eleven stores all over Tokyo!). Other than that
there has been no 3-D T V programming. Some prototype
3-D T V systems are being worked on here, but most likely
they will be demonstrated first at electronics Fairs in the
U.S.A.

(continued on page 51)

In earlier articles I've talked about the various types ofstereos, where to find them, and their financial value.
Now let's think about what might be in an individual
stereo collection, and why: Specialization versus generalization, collateral studies, and the like.
One major limit on the size and makeup of a view collection is simply price. Stereos have gong up by about afactor of ten in the last twenty years, and while prices
show some signs of levelling off, the better-quality materials are not cheap. If you are wealthy, this is no problem, but for most people tying up thousands of dollars
in a hobby is a major decision. For this reason alone, thedays of the mammoth, comprehensive collections (say,100,000 views) are fast disappearing. And it's not just price,
it's availabilitv as well. Most of the lodes of rich ore fromhouseholds have surfaced long ago in the antique shops;
now one can acquire primarily a few views at a time froma specialized dealer or another collector, or wait for thedeath of the owner of a big collection and its dispersal. 1
doubt that even with abundant monev,, a fine mammoth
collection could be put together in less than a decade,nowadays.
But why would anyone want such a thing? First, wehave the true stereo fanatic, who loves 'em all and devotes most of his life (and money) to the subject. Anotherwould be the serious student of the field, whose scholarship covers the whole subject, and must have access to atruly representativecollection. Dr. Darrah's classic studies
of stereo demanded this sort of collection, and he built one
up over many years. The monograph on the field will needsimilar foundations.
In studying the NSA directory, one does find many collectors who describe their interests as "general".
But
increasingly a member will identify his interests quite specifically. Often there is more than one, and they are
frequently closely related: "Early views of Great Britain;
tinted views; views of cathedrals; work by Wilson, Ogle
and Edge, and Bedford." Different topics, but intertwinedin time, space, and subject matter.
I suggest that for most collectors, with limited time andmoney, specialization is not only the most practical way togo, but also the most rewarding, in a broad sense. If you
have a thousand dollars, you can put together a nice collection of views by one of the masters, like William England;
you can accumulate a fine selection of pictures of cats, or
St. Louis, or bicycles. But if your thousand is put intoUoneof everything", you still won't have an adequate groupingof anything at all.
The key word here is "adequate", because if you want to
do more with your pictures than admire them in solitude
occasionally, you have to get to some critical mass. Adequacy of coursedepends on what you want to do, and canrange from a few to many thousands in number, and fromcheap to extremely expensive. These factors are not onlyL,,highly variable but independent of each other. A hundred
Langenheim glass views is getting close to adequate, but ahundred lithographs is only a drop in the bucket, numerically. But the hundred Langenheims will cost about thesame as 10,000 lithos. All these factors, in addition toavailability, need to be carefully thought through before
committing yourself.
Once you have picked your field and made a start, you'can get into the related fields. Let's take one of mine: Cats.
In addition to hundreds of stereos, I have many otherimages of them. I have two live cats under foot, and belong
to both a local and a national cat fancier's club. I collectbooks on cats; cat figurines; I made stained glass cats. I
support the local Humane Society and the A.S.P.C.A.
And so forth - there is no end to cats, except the demandsof other interests.
One very popular (and rewarding) specialty is views of
one's hometown, state or region. This can be highly specialized; one NSA member has the definitive collection ofviews of the Catskills. In addition he has dug into thearchives for related materials; tromped the mountains onfoot; researched the photos to find precisely who took
them, and when; tied the whole thing to the rise of tourism
in the area: and will tell vou all vou need to know about theCatskills. stereos are th; mainstay, but only one part of thetotal history of the area.
This can be gotten into more easily than you might
think, if you avoid the popular areas like Manhattan andCalifornia. If you decide on Dubuque, Iowa, or Havana
Glen, New York, it's unlikely that youll have much competition, and those who do have views of them will probably be glad to part with them. And the small to mid-sizedareas almost always have historical societies, museums,archives, and the like to draw on; they are delighted to findsomeone to work with.
In this connection, perhaps the most under-rated andunder-explored field is the foreign one. Vintage views ofother countries, especially Europe, are usually priced quite
low nowadays, simply due to the lack of interest. In my
opinion, good foreign views are perhaps the best buy inthe field at this time. Did your ancestors come from thePalatine, or Scotland, or Sicily? There is a wealth of goodmaterial available on such places, which can often be tiedback to family origins. How about a "Grand Tour" set ofthe places your great-grandparents visited in 1880?O r thecities you yourself have been in? One trouble is that availability is patchy; if your family came from Paraguay, orIran, or even Hungary, coverage gets pretty slim.
Topical, or subject, collections, are even more variable.
Are you a Mason? Much material exists on fraternalsocieties. Yearn for the old family farm? Views of agricultural homes and practices are abundant. Like music?
How about a collection of stereos of musical nrouvs.
..
instruments, or performers? Like a particular sport? It's--

(continued on page 51)

(continued from page 24)- - - - - - -- -

--

+.+=

--

- --

mount with a red lithographed design. The date is most
likely 1880-85.
A predominate theme is the Devil's preoccupation withthe opposite sex,always portrayed fully fleshed and handsomely endowed. #72 "Les Cocottes" (Fig. 5) shows his
majesty critically examining a member of his court. "Conference by Madame Satan" #55 (Fig. 6) must have beenquite sensational in its day. Just imagine dancing around inslacks with your hair down and a bottle in your hand ahundred and twenty years ago! Freely translated, the signin the foreground says "Death to hoop skirts". "The WarDeparture from Hell" #61 (Fig. 7) is one of several fineviews on that macabre theme.
B.K. often sold the tissues in sets of six or twelve inlithographed boxes. The face of a rare box for the Diablerieis shown in Fig. 8. It would be a lucky collector indeed who

*

-

,

F ~ g u r e5
4turned up such a box with a set of mint views inside. The
empty box I have is badly damaged. It contained eight
mutilated views all in a unique black mount with red lettering, the only ones I have seen.
Because of the tremendous popularity and relatively
high cost, many non-transparent pirated copies were sold.
A large series of tissue "Devils" were also made by lesser
publishers but there is little comparison with the B.K.
Series in originality, photography, coloring, or piercing.
Throughout the entire period, B.K. also produced abeautiful series of dioramas of plays, ballets, and operas.
(See Stereo World Vol. 9, ~ 5 . Other)
publishers madesimilar sets, a few using full size scenery and live actors.
They were among the very best tissues ever produced veritable jewels of perfection when found in mint condition.
Good luck to you if you choose these as your category.
'
y.
.bl

I.--r

-llrrsvr"

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure Q

-

-

+I)

I h

by Christine Young
The primary goal of conservation is to arrest the deterioration of obiects in the collection. The most effective
method of preservation is "archival" storage within aproper environment. However, dirty or damaged stereoviews may require individualized treatment, or restoration,
to insure their vreservation.
The potential number of treatments is infinite. Treatments which can be recommended as safe are few. If thegoal is preservation, then taking unnecessary risks inrestorative treatment is unjustifiable. The damaged photograph will fare better with no treatment than it will withunsafe treatment or over-treatment. A cautious and conservative approach to restoration is urged.
There are several types of treatment which can be safely
undertaken by non-conservators. The first is cleaning.
Removal of dust and dirt will not only improve the appearance of the stereoview, but will also remove particles
which can scratch and abrade the surface of the prints.
The surfaces to becleaned must be carefullv identified andassessed to choose the proper methods df cleaning.
It is also important to recognize what types of soilingand staining are present. Cleaning will reduce or remove
dust and common dirt, and also certain types of surface
deposits. Cleaning will not remove oily dirt, ground-in
dirt (common along old tears), or most surface deposits ormost stains, including staining from mold and mildew(foxing). Attempts to remove these substances can resultin permanent damage to the stereoview. It is unrealistic to
expect every stereoview to return to pristine condition bycleaning.
Tears and de-laminations (separation of layers in themount, or the prints from the mount) are verv serious
conditions. Left unattended, these situations create flapsof paper which can catch and snag, resulting in further
damage. Placing the damaged stereoview in a transparent
sleeve can stabilize its condition by blocking physical accessto the damages. It is also possible for the non-conservator
to execute a number of mends without significant
difficultv.
Restoration of severelv damaged stereoviews should
not be undertaken by the collect&. These should be stabilized by storage or sent to a professional photographconservator for treatment. A professional conservator iscapable of remounting or even replacing the interior of abroken mount while retaining the original surfaces of thecard. A conservator is also capable of the safe chemical removal of pressure sensitive labels and tapes. These typesof treatments require extensive training and experience;
do not attempt these treatments unless further damage ordeterioration of the stereoview is considered an acceptablerisk.

APPROACHING RESTORATION
The first step in restoration is examination. Determine
the physical cohposition of the stereoview. Are the photographs albumen, gelatin, or some other process? Is theimage handcolored? Is there retouching, and if so, is it on
the print or in the negative? Are the exposed surfaces ofthe mount coated or uncoated paper? Is there an added
paper label? printed identification? any handwritten inscriptions, and if so are they significant? If these questions
cannot be answered fully, do not undertake treatment.
Next look objectively at the condition. Is there surface
soiling, deposits, stains? Is there evidence of active mold?
Are there any tears? Did these tears occur before theprints were mounted? If so, are the torn areas adhered tothe mount and secure? Are tears more recent and loose?
Do they extend through one or two layers of paper or
through the entire thickness of the stereoview? Are there
splits or separations between any layers of the stereoview?
Any dog-earring?
The third step is to decide upon a treatment which isrealistic, appropriate and safe. Cleaning must precedemending as adhesives may "set" soils and cause staining.
The amount of cleaning possible will be limited by handcoloring, extensive retouching on the print, inscriptions
and other original surface treatments. Mending may belimited by skills and materials; breaks extending throughall thicknesses will require professional treatment. Tears
in prints which occurred prior to mounting and which arestable will not require further treatment.
During all stages of treatment it is important to reexamine the stereoview as well as the tools and materials
used for treatment. Every stereoview is a unique physicalentity; its reaction to any treatment cannot be totally predicted. Adverse reactions to treatment are always possible
and may occur suddenly. Stop work at the first sign ofanything unusual and determine the cause. If the reaction
cannot be ascribed to something non-detrimental, suchas a heavier than usual deposit of soil, do not resumetreatment.
The final step is preparation of the work area. Choose asurface which is smooth and flat. Cover the area withclean smooth paper, such as newsprint, Kraft paper(brown wrapping paper) or blotting paper. Allow more
space than you think you will need -clutter and confusion will distract and may cause accidents. Finally, becertain to have plenty of light, using additional lamps asnecessary.

CLEANING
A number of cleaning methods are recommended. Eachis tailored for a specific type of surface; do not interchange
them without good cause.
The first step of cleaning is to remove loose dirt fromthe surface. For both prints and mounts this is done with asoft brush, working from the center out. Broad natural
bristle brushes, such as watercolor brush (art supplies),
Kodak or Staticmaster brushes (photo supplies) arerecommended.

MOUNTS
Cleaning of mounts should preceed the cleaning of thephotographs. Coated and uncoated papers are extremely
different, therefore it is very important that the card type
be properly identified.
Uncoated paper is cleaned by erasure. Powdered eraser
is the gentlest method for the purpose. Opaline andSkum-X are two of the most common brands; they are
generally available in art o r drafting supply houses.
Powdered erasers come in shake-out cannisters o r inknitted fabric bags. If the eraser is purchased in bags,
ignore the manufacturer's instructions for use. Gently
twist and shake the bag over the card to release the eraser.
Cannistered erasers should be poured onto the mount.
Using your fingertips, gently roll the eraser crumbs overthe surface of the card t o remove the dirt. Brush away
soiled crumbs. Repeat several times, if necessary. Be extremely careful not to inadvertently erase the photographs;
work along areas of tears o r separation with great care.
A gum eraser may be used for stubborn marks such as
pencil. It should not be used for general cleaning. Over
broad areas, cleaning with large erasers will cause streakiness. Non-powdered erasers are also appreciably moreabrasive than necessary for the removal of generalized
surface dirt.
Even powdered erasers are too abrasive for the fragile
and polished coated surfaces. T h e only erasers appropriate
for use on coated mounts are the kneaded type, alsoavailable in art and drafting supply stores. Kneadable
erasers are soft and pliable. Roll the eraser between thehands to form a cylinder, and then gently roll the eraser
over the surface of the mount. Careful rubbing over very
soiled areas is acceptable. Coated mounts will never clean
as thoroughly as non-coated, so keep expectations realistic.

IMAGES
Most albumen and gelatin prints can be cleaned carefully
with water. Handcolored photographs cannot be cleaned
in this manner as the colors will be removed in whole o r inpart. Retouching on the print may also be water soluble.
Often retouching will appear too dark on the faded print,
and its removal may be aesthetically desirable. Removal ofextensive retouching may leave gaps in the image,
however; in thiscircumstance it is best to leave the photograph uncleaned rather than risk voids.
The print surface is cleaned with distilled water (groceryor drugstore) applied with cotton swabs. Dip the tip of theswab into a small container ot water and allow the water
to wick into the swab. T h e swab should be moist, N O T
WET. Holding the swab horizontally, gently roll the moist
cotton over the surface of the ~ r i n tNever.
rub the surface,as any dirt entrapped in the swab may be ground into theprint causing staining o r abrasion. Photographic surfaces
are much more fragile when they are wet, and so theymust be treated very gently during cleaning.
Clean only small areas, confining rolling action to anarea about 1" square (2.5 cm). Repeat this procedure until
the entire surface is cleaned. Start each area with a freshswab; if the surfaceis extremely dirty, it may be necessary
to replace the swabs more frequently, using several in asingle area. A dirty swab will not clean, but will merely
redistribute and redeposit dirt. Likewise, d o not dip a usedswab back into the water, and d o not return used water toyour supply jug.
Check the cotton swab frequently during cleaning to becertain that only dirt is being removed from the print.
Often thedirt appearsvery black. It is wise to start cleaning
in a highlight area. T h e first swabcan serve as a reference
to the dirt's appearance and offer reassurance whencleaning dark image areas.
Gelatin emulsions swell with water and become tacky.
It is very important that swabbing of gelatin be donequickly. Never allow the surface to become really wet;permit the gelatin t o dry thoroughly before returning to
the area, o r cotton fibers and dirt will stick and may become embedded in the photograph.
Watch out for separation of the albumen o r gelatinemulsion from the underlying paper. Albumen is generally
dry and brittle; the cotton fibers may snag a t edges along
thecracks and lift the emulsion upward. Gelatin mav swelland expand to such a degree that it pops free of the underlying paper. Separation is most likely to occur along edges,tears and scratches where moisture can get into the print
more readilv.
Frequently, stubborn soils which do not respond towater cleaning will respond to cleaning with saliva, appliedwith swabs. If this option is taken, avoid foods and beverages other than water prior to cleaning.
Never use any typeof eraser on the face of photographic
prints. T h e imagelayers are far too fragile and susceptible
to abrasion.
- Part V will cover mending of views.

THE TALISMAN PRESSCATALOG
REVIEW by Peter E. Palmquist
O n November 5th a total of three hundred andtwo lots of stereographs were offered for sale byTalisman Press of Georgetown, CA. Within five days,
most had been sold to delighted collectors. Just another sale? Maybe, but the catalog itself is what should
be of interest to collectors this time.
Talisman Press is best known as a publisher of finewestern books since 1954. More recently they have
served the trade as knowledgeable sellers of antiquarian books. Catalog 27 is their first attempt at
selling stereographs. T w o things distinguish thislisting from many others - quality views and extensive
historical descriptions in the vein of rare book listings
rather than the sparse entries found in most stereo
catalogs.

What I appreciated most was the way the catalog
was limited to a unified region - in this case the "West"- allowing each listing t o broaden my knowledge ofboth region and images. Many of the cards offered
were unique, one-of-a-kind views of small western
towns. These are difficult to find and Bob Greenwoodof Talisman Press spent more than five years accumulating them.
There were 55 views by Carleton E. Watkins alone.
These superb images (exciting non-scenics) would
have justified a major descriptive essay all by themselves. O t h e r fine groups included Montana views by

N.A. Forsyth, Colorado images by Charles Goodman,
25 fine Keystone San Francisco Earthquake cards, anda group of scarce Nevada scenes by various makers.
Unusual California makers included Mrs. Withington.of lone, E.L. Crawford of Georgetown, and Louis
Heller of Fort Jones, to name only a few.
Prices were fair - in my opinion. Not cheap, but
fully justified in light of their quality. The two mostpopular and frequently ordered views were Watkin's
cards: catalog #26 (Watkins New Series #I301 - The
Loop, Tehachapi Pass, S.P.R.R.) described as a "great train
shot", it could have sold many times at its $60 price;catalog #47 (Watkins New Series #4325 - Making
Pinnola, Andrews Station, S.P.R.R.) was equally popular
at $40.
Twenty-two views were illustrated in the catalog,
but not life size. The height of the cards dictated thesize of the reproductions rather than the width,
causing cabinet stereos to appear smaller than standard
views. Also, some views were not carefully "strippedin" so that full margins would remain intact.
At a time when most stereo catalogs are merely atypewritten listing of views to be auctioned, it may
be timely to make some comparisons with the Talisman offering. First, I believe that "auctions" are finefor material of poor to average collectable quality andinterest. So long as the dealers who run them aredependable and consistent (and offer a moneyback
return) then it is an easy means of obtaining views
without fuss. Presumably the price will be about what
the market will bear and both buyer and seller will behappy. Less certain, however, are auctions of morevaluable stereographs. Frequently, large sums ofmoney are involved and it is difficult to assess certain
intangables of image tone and other factors. Oftenthese are rare o r seldom seen views with interestingbackgrounds that are not explained adequately. These"better"cards are best sold by means of a fully detailed
and well-illustrated catalog.
This would mean that dealers would hold their
better views until a special catalog could be filled.
With luck (or effort) this might take the form of aparticular type of offering - only Chicago views, forinstance. Such a quality, thematic catalog would be ascollectable as the views themselves. Any collector would be
able to have a published description (and illustration)of these items whether they could afford the original
views or not. Comprehensive catalogs cost more, butthey become lasting records. In this age of $15 to $70
books, it would not seem unreasonable to pay $10(ormore) for a quality catalog. Most collectors are willingto pay more than that for a single quality view.
While prices have climbed steadily, high quality
views have become increasingly scarce and in somecases impossible t o obtain. Historical data for "significant" stereographs will also become more important.
I predict this trend will continue unabated and eventually our best views will only be available in publications. Let's ask for (and be willing to pay for) quality
catalogs with pictorial and intellectual substance.
Copies of the Talisman Press Catalog are stillavailable a t $3.00 each from The Talisman Press, P.O.
Box 455, Georgetown, CA 95634.

HINTS TO COLLECTORS(continued from page 45)

hard to name one which isn't represented on views, readyto be tied back to the history of your favorite field. O n e
NSA member runs a shoe store, and collects views onanything to d o with shoes. T h e possibilities are endless,working up an adjunct in stereo to an existing interest o rhobby.
Collecting different types o r formats of views is also a
possibility. TWO obviouschoices are glass and tissue views,
each with distinct beautv and unigue characteristics. These
have been avoided to a large extent because of the cost andlimited availability, but can be very rewarding. Highquality hand-tinted views are another, more popular,
subject, and a real joy t o t h e eye as an art form. Even t h elowly lithographed view deserves some specialization, but
as far as I know, I'm the only one w h o has gotten serious inthis field.
If I had one capsule piece of advice, it would be this:Shoot to become the world's expert on whatever you
choose. When someone says "Whocould I turn to, to findout about views of Germany, o r turtles, o r opera singers?"
the answer is "Bill Whoosis. He's forgotten more aboutthat than you'll ever need to know." You'll not only be
famous, but enjoying it more, too!

Q. In your column you spoke sort of disparagingly
about lithos. I think they're pretty, myself. Why don't you
like them, and why don't more people collect them?
A. I didn't mean to be slighting about lithos; indeed,
they are one of my personal specialties. Several reasons
why they aren't more popular; one being that Dr. Darrah
doesn't speak well of them in his books. Another is thatthey often had poor quality control, and one in bad register
is unviewable. Also, being on light stock, they were much
more susceptible to damage and wear, and turn up in bad
shape. But in goodquality, boxed sets, they are among thebest to be had.
Q. I'm interested in getting some more views of Italy,
and corresponding with collectors in Italy about the current state of some of the things I see on views. H o w can lfind collectors there?
A. I'm sorry to say that except for those listed in the NSA
directory, I can't help you; I know few overseas collectors
myself. Perhapsother U.S. collectors with similar interests
could provide leads (you can spot them in t h e directory).

PERSONALITIES IN PERSPECTIVE(continued from page 39)

politics. Intensely loyal to Lincoln, Welles was quick to discover something unsavory in the pushy Stanton. Later h ebacked both Lincoln and Johnson in their moderate reconstruction policies and stood by Johnson during the long
impeachment ordeal.
Disgusted by the excesses of the Radical Republicans
running Congress, Welles in private life remained a n active
and potent political commentator until his death o n February 11,1878, a steadfast foe of grandiose federal powers
and champion of individual freedom.

NEWVIEWS (continued from page 44)

3-D VIDEO GAMESLarge arcade-type 3-D video games are here, utilizing
special viewing hoods, and exhibiting good, bright 3-D. I
believe they are all using the PLZT electronic shutter
method, like "Subroc 3 - D which is currently in theStates.
T h e hand-held liquid crystal Tomytronic 3-D games areon sale here also, but with at least one different game thanthe ones being sold in the U.S. This is a "Jaws 3-D" game,
which has sharks and divers swimming back and forth atyou. These are made by Tomy Toys.

3-D IN PRINT
Until November 1983 the only place you could readabout 3-D h e r e was in the JASPA materials, o r in otherrelated technical manuals o r books. Then, quite by surprise, a popular men's magazine (non-girlie type) called"POPEYE" devoted a good part of its November 2 3 issue
to a n introduction to 3-D.
A long feature article entitled "What's About 3-D?"
included a pair of anaglyphic glasses and lots of 3 - D
photos. This appears to be the first general introduction of
3-D t o t h e Japanese public. At least 14 stores and major
corporations displayed their goods in anaglyphic ads. Included in the group were Toshiba, Seiko Watch Co.,
Maxell, Subaru, and Sony (with a t w o page centerspread!). Japan's big ad executives seem to have n o qualms
about going "one-up" on Madison Avenue by going forthe extra dimension.
T h e articlealsomentioned that the 1985 World's Fair inJapan (Expo '85) is planning to have at least o n e 3 - D
Pavilion with a twin 70mm 3-D feature. Sounds a bit likew h a t is at Epcot C e n t e r in Disney World. I'll write about
more details when they are known.

STEREOGRAPHERS
Most of JASPAS members shoot with twin 35mm o rslide bar rigs. Realist-format is probably t h e second mostpopular, with a small group favoring twin 2%" rigs. O n efellow even has a pair of Hasselblad's with motor drives!
T h e r e is also a fair group which has made "joined"camera
systems (by cutting apart and reworking and assemblingt w o 35mm cameras).
Based o n t h e above, a final fair estimate would be that
there are between 500 and 800 activestereographers in allof Japan. O n the other hand, further investigation could
turn u p a larger number, but I would still say that t h e total
would not likely be higher than 1,500.

CATALOG OF JAPANESE
3-D EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE
Because there are too many Japanese 3-D items available t o list them all with addresses, prices, and ordering
information, arrangements have been made with NEWVIEWS Editor David Starkman to make Xerox copies for
NSA members. Included in this "packet" a r e about 7
double-sided pages of 3-D equipment, and a membership
application f o r JASPA. Please send $2.00 t o cover postage
and copying costs to: David Starkman, P.O. Box 35,
Duarte, C A 91010.

THE STEREOSCOPIC SOCIETY
AMERICAN BRANCHTHE SOCIETY
WHITHER THE
GOVERNMENT STEREOS?
Paul Wing raises a pertinent question regarding thereference in this column (NovlDec 1983) to the report that
the Pacific bomb tests were photographed by the Navy instereo. Paul writes,"That hint of stereosof the bomb tests
is intriguing. It is always in my mind that the USA has
thousands of interesting stereos that are simply hard or
impossible toget to. It is not war secrecy but simply inertia.
I think particularly of stereos of the planets, the back sideof the moon, for examvle,. o r ~ e r c h r vThere.
are some
good ones of the earth's surface and if I were an astronaut
there would be more! I went to Beltsville once and got tolook at a lot of pairs but never got any to keep. I orderedsome from washington and got such pbor copies that I had
to throw them in the wastebasket and thev were not cheav
either!" Anyone who has seen the superb aerial hypers
that Paul produces can well imagine what w e might beseeing if his talents were brought to bear on these projects.
that in the drama
To me it has been a great disavvointment..
of the grand accomplishments of the space program w ehave seen so little in stereo. With only a very few exceptions what I have seen is near garbage and not demonstrating even a kindergarten knowledge of stereo principles. I don't know why. T h e 1969 Viewmaster issue,
APOLLO M O O N LANDING, has several decent hyperstereos taken from lunar orbit and an earth-orbit view of
the Grand Canyon which is nice, though showing severe
keystoning. Beyond that I really haven't seen much I wish
to mention. It's a shame.

.

L,

BRIDGESIn a lighter vein, I have been reading and rereading thearticles by A.F. Schear in the JullAug and SeptlOct 1983
issues of Stereo World with much interest. I realize now
that I have been seeing bridges in a new light for sometime now, guided by the perceptive eye of Society members w h o recognized long ago that they are desirable subjects for their stereo lenses. Currently our principal bridgestereographers are Ray & Eileen Bohman (see page 23,
JanlFeb 1983 Stereo World) who have produced a very interesting series of viewcards on modern color stock. But,
the subject has been a recurring one in the Society folios
for many years. Some examples from the years around1930 are illustrated.

1983 VOTING RESULTS
Complete returns are now in from all folio circuits. Eachtime a folio is viewed by a member there is the opportunity
to list the Ist, 2nd, and 3rd choices of said member among
the views in that folio. Often it is very difficult to make thechoices, especially when one must pass over excellent pictures to whittle the choices down to three. It should be
noted in this context that every point garnered by one's
entries is an honor. Also it is noted that no two members
ever vote on exactly the same field of competitors sinceeach voter removes hislher old entry and submits a newview before sending the folio on its way. Some members,
and especially newer ones, do not have views in all folios.
Overall point totals do then give some indication of how

John R. Lindmark, Societym e m h ~ rfrom Pouxhk~epsie,NYmade this time lapse hyperstereoof the Pouxhke~psi~
Bridge with aseparation of about 3 f~et. Thevim) is dated 9/7/30.

one's pictures are being received. An especially popular
view can gather quite a few points all by itself. Here are theresults as reported by the several secretaries:

Transparency Circuits
1st place vote - 3 points; 2nd place vote - 2 points;
3rd place vote - 1 point

Alpha Group(25 or more points)

Total
PointsNumber of 1st
Place Votes

Howard Frazee
Louis Smaus
Paul Wing
Dr. Paul Milligan
Susan Pinsky
Dr. M. Markley
R.W. Harris
William Quinette
Lucia Brann
Dr. L.E. Robertson
Ralph Geiser
Dr. Brandt Rowles
Rolf Eipper
Dr. R. Markley
Matthew Rebholz

Beta Group(15 or more points)
Dave Huddle
Bob O'Brien
Rick Vallon
Dave Hutchison
Harold Kershaw
Pat Wilburn
Bill Payne

Beta Group(15 or more points)
Dal Darrow
Hank Bielecki
Vic Fisher
Dave Eisenman
Bob Rebholz
Harry Newman
Rebecca Ratcliffe
Scott Mathews
Vern Paulson

Total
Points
37
25
25
24
19
19
18

17
15

Number of 1st
Place Votes
5
3
5

5
3

4
3
2

2

Print Circuits
1st place vote - 4 points; 2nd place vote - 3 points;
3rd place vote - 2 points

Regular Folios(25 or more points)

Total
PointsNumber of 1st
Place Votes

96
75
63
54
46

23

38

6

38

4

13

14
9

5

R.W. Caldwell, Society member and Keystone photographer in the mid-30's.
captured the S U ) P P ~ of the George Washington Bridge without resorting tohyperstereo.

Total
PointsNumber of 1st
Place Votes

Nick Graver
Bill Patterson
Brandt Rowles
John Dennis
Bill C . Walton
Wil Metcalf
Paul Fisher
Steve BestRay Bohman
John Steffen
Jack Cavender
Sherry Lovato
Rolf Eipper
Favorite Views - 1st - "Wet Sand Sunset" - John Dennis
2nd - tie
"Scenic Group" - Brandt Rowles"Fishing" - Wil Metcalf"In the Mirror1'- Nick Graver(continued on page 61)

3 D MOVIE MAKlN

KISS ME KATEA RETROSPECT
Occasionally, we stereoscopic movie enthusiasts arechallenged to name examples of good 3-D motion pictures.
I suspect that one title we often overlook is the 1953
MGM musical, "Kiss Me Kate''. It rates three stars inLeonard Maltin's reference TV MOVIES, as do "Dial M
For Murder", "House of Wax'', "Hondo", and "Miss Sadie
Thompson".
One reason thatl'Kiss Me Kate" might not immediately
spring to mind is that the majority of its showings were in
the flat version. The film was released as the 3-D craze
was apparently starting to wane. MGM had scheduled test
engagements in six cities - three in 3-D (Columbus,
Dallas, Syracuse) and three flat (Evansville, Houston,Rochester). The 3-D engagements were more successfulby "substantial percentages". The film pressbook con-cluded,"Although the picture is available both 3-D and flat,
it is MGM's recommendation that all theatres so equipped
present 'Kiss Me Kate' to their patrons in 3-D for greaterbox office returns." Nevertheless, the Radio City MusicHall in New York premiered it flat, citing the "shady reputation of 3-D in the public mind''.
"Kiss Me Kate" was first presented as a highly successful Broadway musical play, opening in 1948. The book was
by Bella and Samuel Spewack, and the music and lyrics by
the legendary Cole Porter. The story involves a playwithin-a-play theme, with Shakespeare's "The Taming of
the Shrew" being musically revived by a modern day cast.
MGM is renowned for its marvelous musical films,
many of them original works ("Singin' in the Rain", "TheBand Wagon", "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers") andothers adapted from stage plays ("Show ~;at","Annie Get
Your Gun"). In transferring "Kiss Me Kate" from the stage
to the screen, MGM retained the original story and mostof the songs.
The cast features the outstanding talents of Howard
Keel and Kathryn Grayson, their third teaming following"Show Boat" and "Lovely to Look At': Ann Miller contributes her wonderful dancing and singing abilities, as
does a young Bob Fosse. The Cole Porter score includes
many now-standard songs: "So In Love'', "Why Can't You
Behave", "Wunderbar", "Always True To You In My
Fashion", and "From This Moment On". A showstopping
comic song and dance routine, "Brush Up Your Shakespeare'', is performed by James Whitmore and Keenan
Wynn ("Just declaim a few lines from Othella, and shell
think you're a heckuva fella . . .").
MGM's interest in 3-D began in 1936 with the anaglyph
short, "Audioscopiks", followed by "The New Audioscopiks" (1938) and "Third Dimension Murder" (1941).
The studio's 1950's entries were limited to "Kate" and"Arena'', a mediocre western. Both were shot with a dual
camera rig called Metroscope.
"Kiss Me Kate"would seem to be an improbable choicefor 3-D exploration. Like "Dial M For Murder", it was shot
entirely on indoor sets, but what sets they are! Exciting
and colorful perspective scenery, designed by CedricGibbon and Urie McCleary, provide very effective depth
qualities. This reaction was not shared by VARIETY, whichremarked:"Why 3-D? 'Kate'has all the dimension it needs in 2-D.
The pictorial effects achieved with 3-D lensing mean little
in added entertainment. The necessity of wearing glasses,
to us, proved a pain in the eyebrows."
3-D or not 3-D (speaking of Shakespeare). Well, in any
dimension, "Kiss Me Kate" is absolutely first rate screen
entertainment.

Review
ANTHONY - THE BOOK
Review by Frederick S. Lightfoot

Anthony, The M a n , The Company, The Cameras - by William
and Estelle Marder - De Luxe Hardbound buckram, signed
and numbered edition $59.95 plus $2.00 postage, obtainable from Bill or Estelle Marder, P.O. Box 234, Amesbury,
MA 01913. (Inquire for availability of regular hardcoverat $49.95 or soft cover edition at $24.95.)
This book, like other recent works on photographic
history, has had to be privately printed because it tells far
more about Edward Anthony and thecompany he founded
than a general reader would want. For the very same
reason, it takes a giant step forward from past books
which, as Beaumont Newhall notes in his foreword, neverattempted the monumental task of telling the whole story
about one of the great pioneering firms in the photographic industry. For anyone who has more than a casualinterest in how American photographic entrepreneurs
met the challenge of supplying the needs of an art that
virtually exploded into every corner and almost every
living room in the country, this book is a "must." We saythat even though it is an imperfect book and a costly one- though not priced excessively in terms of what one can
expect for so large a volume in a small edition in today's
It has to be recognized that anyone attempting a story of
the Anthony firm runs into a stonewall so far as locating
any significant quantity of its business papers is concerned.
So far as seems to be known, these papers were lost at
some time or times in the past when thecompany moved
to different locations and eventually changed hands. So
the authors have had to plow through whatever othercontem~orarvsources could be found and the reminiscences of photographers in the 1880's - often contradictory - to piece together their story. They have done aremarkable job in this, and supply ample notes to permit areader to follow up any source for additional detail.
Naturally, they have missed some items, such as Edward
Anthony's Daguerreotype political buttons, and they
have been unable to supply us with information or pictureson such things as the stereoscopic cameras used by
Anthony and other photographic firms in the 1850's.
Since we are writing this review primarily for readers of
STEREO WORLD who are apt to be interested in what
the book tells about the stereoscopic views published by
the Anthonvs, we need to note that the book (as its title
indicates) is ioncerned mostly with the camerasand otherhardware that the firm produced. Only about eighty-fivepages, or roughly one-quarter of the book, are concernedwith the stereoscopic views that are so highly coveted bymany collectors todav.
1nevitably,when a book covers so wide a territory as thisone does, it would be unreasonable to expect a definitive
narrative in each section. The story offered on stereos may
well satisfy most collectors but it omits reference to muchof the catalog assembled by the firm, details of which arestill being garnered by A. Verner Conover, who took over
the work of trying to reconstruct the catalog that Ron
Lowden began many years ago. More troubling are questionable statements at a few points, notably the discussionof Thomas C. Roche's initial relationship with the Anthonys.
There is no reliable source known to us that supports theclaim made that Roche took stereographic negatives of the
Hudson River valley for them before he undertook the1863 Central Park series as a freelance. We agree with theauthors' second guess that the Fulton Street Prayer
Meeting series was taken after 1857 because the prints ofthis series are of a quality not achieved until after 1859.
Perhaps the most important error is the assumption that
Henry Anthony's instantaneous process was kept secret.
George Barnard actually revealed the technique in 1860,
and the details evidently were soon known or easily
worked out by other photographers who produced instantaneous stereos in 1860 in New York and at Niagara Falls.
The last item we will comment on is the four-subject
portrait on Page 46 of the book, identified as Henry
Anthony circa 1864. A stereograph which appears to datefrom 1862 and came from a descendant of the Anthonysshows him as having a moustache and goatee then. So wequestion the book's identification, even though it is basedon a name scratched in the negative.
To sum up, we would say that this book definitely
belongs in every library of books dealing with the general
history of American photography. Much of the detail in it
is unlikely to reappear in print again and the abundantillustrations of hardware, photographs, prints, correspondence, etc. will bear hours of pleasurable scrutiny. Credit isdue Robert Duncan, who did a masterful job in editing a
staggering amount of material and making it yield a continuous, well-organized and fascinating story. Readers
who are only stereograph collectors will have to weigh its
purchase more carefully, but may be encouraged by theprospect that its value is likely to increase once the edition
is sold out.

'84 STEREO SEQUENCECOMPETITION OPEN TO ALL
The Stereo Division of the Photographic Society ofAmerica is inviting ALL stereographers everywhere toparticipate in the 1984 Stereo Sequence Competition(PSA membership NOT REQUIRED). Closing date is
May 9, 1984. Accepted entries will be premiered at theAnnual PSA Convention (August 20-25,1984) in Chicago,
Illinois. Entries remain the property of the maker. Accepted
SEQUENCES (scripted stereo photo-essays) are retained
for subsequent exhibition at requesting clubs, then returned to their makers about Oct. 1,1985. Rejected entries
are returned immediately after the Selection date of
May 19, 1984.
lst, 2nd & 3rd PSA Sequence trophies and 3 PSA
Sequence Honorable Mention Medals are awarded at thePremier Exhibitionat the '84 PSA Convention in Chicano.
Entry forms are NOT required, however, Sequence
GUIDELINES with complete details are available from
NSA member & PSA Stereo Division Sequence Director,
Norm Henkels, 3441 Ashley Drive, Glenview, Illinois
60025 USA (312) 724-5999.

,

er..)

-

1,
,,#

"

"'f

We received a response to the view of a waterfall, shownat the bottom of page 23 in the NOVlDEC 1983 issue.
David Downey identified the location as Honesdale,
Pennsylvania, near the Himilian International Institute.
We also got letters about the snow cave view in the same
issue. Dan Dyckman sent in a copy of a similar but different view copyrighted in 1898 by T.W. Ingersoll. It was#1122, "An Ice Cave in Wonderland", with a descriptive
reverse which mentions ice caves in Finland, Greenland,
and the Alps but doesn't definitely locate the photo. Jack
Erickson sent copies of two views, both with the same
photos as the original unknown, but on different mounts.
O n e is a green card by W.G. Smith, a famous photographerof Cooperstown, N.Y. T h e title read "Cooper Views andOtsego Lake Scenery 606. Snow Cave in Rocky Mountains''. T h e other is a yellow mount by Haines, 478 Broad-way, Albany, N.Y. The label reads "No. 606. Snow Cave
Rocky Mountains Wasatch Range".
For our first puzzler this issue we have an orange cardfrom Jim Burgess showing a rugged group of miners infront of a mine entrance. They hold the tools of their trade;pick, candle holders, lunch buckets. The card is labelled"T.E. Hinshaw", and "Scenic Photographer". Jim says theview was found in a lot of views of Utah towns on yellow
cabinet mounts labelled "Hinshaw, Joy & Baker - The
Illinois Tourists".
David Dyckman submitted the gray card with as formidable a group of women as we've ever seen. The white
ink handwritten label is partially illegible and reads". . . Women's Club Feb 22 '15''. It was purchased in Rhode
Island. Note the woman dressed in the stars and stripes. At
least a couple of their badges bear the famous Stuart portrait of George Washington. Is this a meeting of the
D.A.R., or perhaps suffragettes?

From Nigel Lendon comes a pair of unknowns. The firstshows calcite or iceland spar demonstrating its property of
double refraction. Does anyone know anything about the"Stereoscopic Magazine" on the labels behind the spar?
The view came with two similarly mounted views titled"The New Museum, Royal Gardens, Kew" and "The
Temple Collection of Antiquities".
Nigel's second view looks like a photographer playing a
trick on us by shooting himself and his camera. Can anyone
identify the man? Anyone recognize the type and age ofthe camera? O n the table are some views, along with whatlooks like a Brewster stereoscove.
Send information on these or past unknowns to Neal
Bullington, 137Carman St., Patchogue, N.Y. 11772. Whensubmitting unknowns for publication please do not sendmore than four at a time. and remember to include return
postage and insurance if desired. We'd especially like toreceive some unknowns featuring military scenes for a
future issue.

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES STEREOSCOPIC RESEARC:H LIBRARY, EASTERN COLLEGE, ST. DAVIDS, PA 19087

KEYSTONE STEREOSCOPIC TOURS
Have you ever wondered how many "boxed tours" were
produced by Keystone? Here is a list of 60 as found on
pages 450 and 451 in the WORLD WAR THROUGH THE
TELEBINOCULAR, J.M. Hanson, Keystone View Co.,
Meadville, PA 11928.
T h r f<,llc,wing krystc,nc Strrr'>scc,pic- Tcwrs nrr put u p in nrar Vc,lumr R<,c>k(Tahint.ts.
AFR1C:A- 1 0 0 p,siti<,ns and m h i n r t .
ALASKA- 100 Iursirions, rxpl;,ner',ry n<,rrs <,n hack <>fsrrrr~,ymphs, andmhincr.
ANIMALS. WILL)- 100 pc,sitlc,ns, rxplnnat<>ryncxrs <,n hack <,f strrr<,graphs.
;~nclcnhinrr.
ALJSTRALIA- 100 pc,siri<,ns and rahincr.
AUSTRIA-50
pc,sirit,ns and rnhinrt.
RELOILJM-60
pusiti',ns, rxplanarc,ry nc,tcs cm hack <,f strrrcrgmphs, andmhincr.
RULGARI A - 30 pcrsitic,ns and cnhinrt.
RURMA- 5 0 pc,siti~msand rnhinct.
CANAI?A- 100 positions, rxpl:~nert,ry ncrtes <,n hack of strrr<,graphs. andcahiner.
C:ENTRAL AMERICA-50p',sitic>ns, cxplnnntc>ry notes c,n hsck o f stereographs, nnd cahiner.
CEYLON- 3 0 p,siti<rns and cahinrt.
C:HINA- 100 positions, r x p l a n a r ~ ~ notesryc,n hack <,f srerr~ryraphs,and cahiner.
C U R A - 3 0 positions, cxplanat<rry nc>resc,n heck ',f sterecrgraphs, and cahinet.
CZECHOSLOVAKIA-50 yxrsiricms and c n h ~ n e t .
DENMARK- 36 pc>siticmsand cahinetr
EGYPT- 100 positions. with guidrhrx,k hy Prof. J a m r s H. Breasted. Ph.D.. 3 6 0
pages, cloth, and twenty parrnt maps, and cahinrt.
ENGLANI) A N D WALES- 100 positions, cxplanatclry notes c,n hnck o f stereographs, and cahnner.
FRANC:E100 positions, rxplnnarc,ry notes o n hnck '>f srereographs, andmhinrt.
G E R M A N Y - 100 p,sitions, explanatory notes o n hsck of srereographs, andcah~nrr.
GREECE- 100 p>sirions, with yuideh<rc,k hy Prof. Rufus B. Richardson, Ph.D..
f<,urteen patent mnps, nnd cahinrt.
HAWAII-25
positions and cahinrt.
HOLLAND-50
posiriwns, explnnnn,ry notes o n hack of stereographs, andcnhinrr.
INI>IA- 100 posiricms, wirh guidebrx,k hy Prof. James Ricalton, ten patentmnps nnd cahinet.
INDIANS-50 p>sitic>ns.explsnatcrry notes o n hack o f sterecryraphs. and cahiner.
IRELAND- LOO positions, explanarc,ry notes c>n hack o f stereographs, andcnhinrt.
ITALY- 100 positions, with guidehook by D. J. Ellison. D.D.. and Prof. JamesC . Eghert. Jr.. Ph.D.. 6 0 2 pages, cloth, ten patent maps, and cahinrt.
positions and cahinet.
JAMAICA-36
JAPAN- 100 positic>ns,explanarc,ry notes o n hack of stereographs, and cahinet.
KOREA-50 positions, explananrry notes o n hack of srereographs, and cahinet.
explanatory notes o n hack o f stereographs, and
M A N C H U R I A - 5 0 &x>sit~c>ns,
cahinrt.
MESOPOTAMIA-36 positir>ns and cahiner.
MEXICO- 100 positions, explanntory notes o n hack o f sterer,graphs, andcahinrt.
NORWAY- 100 positions, explannn>ry nores o n hack o f stereographs. andcnhinet.
PALESTINE-200 positi'>ns. with guidebook by Jesse Lyman Hurlhut. D.D..
and Chns. Foster Kent, Ph.D.. 319 pages, cloth, eleven patent maps. andcahiners.
PANAMA-50
positicms, explanatrrry notes o n hack o f stereographs, andcah~net.
PHILIPPINES-50
p<>sitions,explanatory notes o n hack of srerengraphs. andcahiner.
P O R T 0 RICO-36 positions and cabinet.
posiric,ns and cahinet.
I'ORTUGAL-36
PRIMARY - 2 0 0 positions, with guidehonk organized and applied rn children's
use by a hoard o f educators w h o are a u t h o r i t ~ e so n child training; I 8 8 pages,
cloth, and cahinets.
R A I L R O A D TRANSPORTATION-50
positions, explanatory nores o n hackc,f s t e r e o ~ r a p h s and,cahinet.

RUSSIA-50 p>sitic>ns,rxplnnatc~rynotes c>nhack crf strrrr,graphs, and cah~nct.
SCOTLANI7-75 pr>sitic>ns,rxplnnatc,ry ncltrs cm hack <>fstrrrt>graphs,andcahinrt.
rxplanatc>ryn<>trscm hack c,f strrr<rgmphs,
S O U T H AMERICA- 100 pcrsiti<~ns,
and c n h ~ n e t .
S O U T H S E A ISLANDS AN13 JAVA- 100 p<,sitic,ns, rxplnnstory n<,trs cm
hack c,f srcrr<rgraphs.and mhinrt.
SPAIN- 5 0 p',sitic,ns, rxplnnnn,ry n<,tes c,n hnck <,f srercographs, and cahinet.
SWEI7EN- 5 0 prsiti<,ns, rxplnnnt<>ryn',trs c,n hack c>fstrrccrgraphs, and cahinet.
SWITZERLAND- 100 p<,siti<,ns,rxplnnarc,ry nc,res c,n hack <,f stere<,gmphs.
and c n h ~ n r t .
TCJUR O F W O R L D - 4 0 0
pc,sitic~ns,with guidrhcxrk hy hy Rurton Hcrlmes.
Wc,rld Traveler. 289 pages, clc,rh, and rhrcr patent maps, and cahinrts.
TURKEY - 5 0 positic,ns. rxplnnat<>ryn<*es c,n hark <,fstcrrc,grsphs, nnd cnhinrt.
LJNITEL> STATES- 100 pc,stric,ns, explanatc,ry nc,trs c,n hnck c,f srerr<rgrnphs.
nncl cnhnner.
C:~,l~,rado-36 pcrsitic,ns, explnnan,ry n o t r s cm hack <>fsrt.re<>grephs,andcnh~nrt.
Fl',ridn-50
pc,siti<,ns. cxplanat<,ry n<,tes o n hnck c,f strrrr,gmphs, andcnhinrt.
Glacier National Park- 30 pc>siric>ns,explnnatc,ry ncltrs c,n hsck crf strrcclgraphs, and cahinet.
Grand Canyon - 3 6 pc,siri',ns, rxplanet'rry nc,tes cm hsck c,f strreographs.
and cahinrt.
Rainier National Park- 3 0 p<,sitic,ns, explanatory n<>trsc,n hack (rf stere<>graphs, and cnhlnet.
Stwthern Utah Parks- 36 p',sitic,ns, rxplnnan,ry n<,rrs ',n hack of stere',graphs, and cnhinet.
Yell',wst',nc Nati<,nnl Park - 5 0 pc>siricms, explannn,ry n<>tesc,n hnck ofsrere<>graphs,and cshincr.
Ycrsrtmite Valley -86 pc,siti<>ns,rxplanan,ry nc,res c,n hack <,f stere<>grsphs.
and cnhinrr.
VISUAL EDUCATION-600 positr>ns,with yuidrhcxrk applied particularly n>
wcrrld education hy a hc,ard <,f e d i n x s whc, are recc>gnircd auth~rririeso n
tmvrl. educstton, religicm, art, sclrncr, etc.. 6 3 0 pages, cl<>rh,and cahinets.
WORLL) W A R - 3 0 0 positions, wirh gu~dehtx,khv Moj. J<>srphMills Hanson.
4 4 2 pages. cloth. and cahtnrts.
Ask f<,r any inf<,rmart<>n
wnnrrd trn rrnvrl. ondu\trtnl. nnturr \ttnJy. c,r cjthrr
rJttc;~ro<,nalmarrrnal. 1)es~mhlr~ t r h j r r t sIn srr.rr.t,yrnphs c,r Innrcrn z l d r - cnn h r
suppled, covering almc~sranything that can he phc,rc,graphed

All of us have stereoviews that are not boxed. Some ofthese are marked as part of a series, but we don't have thecomplete set. We then wonder how many cards were in theset. By checking this list you can see that the Colorado set
contains 36 views whereas the Hawaii set contains just 25.
Now that you know that you need to complete your sets,
good luck to you in your search.

ACQUISITIONS"The Return of 3-D, by Peter Palmquist. Darkroom November 1983, pp 42-52. Gift of the author.
THE DAGUERREOnPES OF SOUTHWORTH AND
HAWES, Robert A. Sobieszek and Odette M. Appel, Dover
Publications, New York, 1976. Gift of Freeman F. Hepburn.

"Jaws 3 - D , TRIBUTE - Summer 1983. Gift of Ken
Young.
Haneel Tri-vision Stereoscope (2" x 3" x 4 K ) , plastic
with adjustable lens. Does anyone have further information about this company? Gift of Craig F. Daniels.

EXCITING NEWS!!
Stereographs Needed! Goal 1000 - Received to date 1215.
In previous reports I have expressed our desire to increase the collectionof stereoviews in the Holmes Library.
Researchers need to see the actual pictures that tell somuch about the way people lived in those long-gone years.
Information about the photographers and publishers isoften found on the cards themselves. The library needs abroad representation of subjects depicted on the cards.
What may appear familiar to one collector may be a delightful surprise to another.
We set a beginning goal of 1000 stereoviews and asked
every member to send us a few. Thanks for responding.
With the special help of Robert Vogel of Washington who
has donated over 500 stereoviews we have now exceeded
our goal. Other gifts have recently been received from
Neal Bullington, Paul Wetzel, Jorge Faz, Richard Ryder,
Lou Smaus, Craig Daniels, Brandt Rowles, Richard D.
Marks, Jr., Paul Dickson, Fred Hooper, David Caterno andDavid Raney.
Why not have a part in helping us reach our second
thousand. Send some of your duplicates to us now and help
preserve this important history of photography.

EventsAPR. 1
CapitallTri-State, Sheraton Inn - Crystal City, Arlington
VA. Call 201-533-1991.
APR. 6-8
Shutterbug Ads trade show & Convention. Sahara, Las
Vegas, NV. Write Shutterbug Ads, PO Box F, Titusville,
FL 32781. Call 305-269-3211.
APR. 8South Bend Ind. Photo Swap Meet. Century Center.
Write Heirloom Images, PO Box 6486, South Bend, Ind.
46660. Call 219-259-2968.
APR. 13 - NSA event
Delaware Valley NSA Regional Meeting, 7:30 P.M. at
the Cherry Hill Free Public Library, Kings Highway (Rt.
41) Cherry Hill, NJ. Speaker: Al Schear. Topic: "Early New
Jersey Photographers - Especially Pioneer Stereographers."
APR. 14-15
The Boston Show. 21st show sponsored by Photographic Historical Soceity of New England at Howard
Johnson's 57 Park Plaza Hotel, 200 Stuart St., Boston.
Contact PHSNE, 32 Colwell Ave., Brighton, MA 02135.
Call 617-254-1565.
APR. 14-15
Detroit Area 4th Photo Flea Market & Trade Show.
Hyatt Regency, Dearborn Fairlane Town Center, Dearborn, MI. Write Sam Vinegar, 20219 Mack Ave., Grosse
Point Woods, MI 48236. Call 313-884-2242.
APR. 15
Tri State Photofair, Sheraton Inn, Smithtown, NY. Call
201-533-1991.
APR. 29
Midwest Photographic Historical Society Collectors
Show. Ramada Inn Wesport, St. Louis, MO. Contact Joe
Kresyman, 502 Glenmeadow Dr., Ballwin, M O 63011.
Call 314-391-9405.

APR. 29
Cleveland 2nd Photo Trade Fair, Cleveland Mariott
InnlAirport. Cleveland, OH. Write Sam Vinegar, 20219
Grosse Pointe Woods, MI 48236. Call 313-884-2242.
APR. 29
Tri State Photofair, Albany Thruway House, Albany,
NY. Call 201-533-1991.
MAY 5 - NSA event
South Central REGIONAL SPRING MEETING, University Hotel, Huntsville, TX. Contact Tom Rogers, 1111
12th St., Huntville, TX 77340. 409-2911-0110.
MAY 5 - NSA event
UPPER MIDWEST REGION (WesternlCentral)
annual meeting 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the Minnesota
Historical Society, 690 Cedar St., St. Paul, MN 55101. Call
612-388-5413.
MAY 12-13
Western Photographic Collectors Assn. 15th Spring
Trade Fair, Pasadena City College, Pasadena, CA. Write
WPCA, Box 4294, Whittier, CA 90607. Call 213-693-8421.
MAY 19-20
Chicago Photorama USA. The Odeum, 1033 N. Villa
Ave., Villa Park, Ill. Contact Sam Vinegar, 20219 Grosse
Pointe Woods, MI 48236. Call 313-884-2242.
MAY 194th Annual PacificNorthwest Camera & Photographica
Sale Swap Show. Between Seattle & Tacoma at Kent
Commons, WA. Write Dave Studebaker, 10421 Delwood
Dr., SW Tacoma, WA 98498. Call 206-582-4878.
MAY 20Central PA Camera Show, York, PA. Holiday Inn. Write
Central PA Photographic Associates, Box 964, Carlisle,
PA 17013. Call 7l7-252-3403.
MAY 26-27
Ohio Camera Collectors Society 22nd Trade Fair at the
Quality Inn, Columbus. Write to OCCS, Box 282,
Columbus, O H 43216.

THE P.H.S.C. IS TEN THIS YEAR,
TOO! - CELEBRATES WITH
"PHOTOHERITAGE 1984"
To celebrate its tenth anniversary, the Photographic
Historical Society of Canada announces PhotoHeritage
1984 - reception, symposium and fair - to be held May 25,
26 and 27,1984. The symposium will be the first ever held
exclusively dedicated to the history of photography in
Canada.
The Reception and Symposium will take place on Friday
afternoon and evening and on Saturday all day and evening
May 25 and 26,1984 at Winters College, York University
Toronto. The Tenth Photographic-Fair will be held on
Sunday, May 27, 1984 at the Holiday Inn Don Valley,
Toronto.

As part of the~rmembersh~pmembers are offered Free use of classlf~edadvert ~ s ~ nMembersg
may use 100 words per year d~v~ded~ntothree ads w~tha maxlmum of 35 words per ad Add~t~onalads or words may be ~nsertedat the rate of
20Q per word Please Include payments w~thads Deadllne IS the 10th of the month
preced~ngpubllcat~ondate Rate sheet for dlsplay ads ava~lableupon request Send
ads to the Nat~onalStereoscop~cAssoclatlon Box 14801 Columbus. OH 43214
or call (614) 895-1774

FOR SALE
3-D MOVIE POSTERS: House of Wax,
Robot Monster, The French Line, Moneyfrom Home, Creature Black Lagoon, Dial
M for Murder, It Came from Outer Space.
Jeff Molloy, 45 Dorothy Hgts.,Wappingers
Falls. NY 12590, (914) 297-3343.
VIEW-MASTER AND TRU-VUE items forsale. Some old filmstrips & reels. Send
SASE for list. Mary Ann Sell, 3804
Aylesboro Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45208.
Would also be interested in trading for
View-Master items I don't have.
FOUNDATIONS OFTHE STEREOSCOPICCINEMA by Lenny Lipton is the mostcomplete and knowledgeable sourcebook ever written on the technology,
history, and methodology of stereoscopic
filmmaking. Essential for anyone making
three-dimensional films who wants
pleasing, easy-to-look-at images. Hardcover. Send check or money order for$24.45 (California residents add 6% salestax) pa;able to Stereographics Corp. to:Foundations of thestereoscopic Cinema,
Stereographics Corporation, P.O. Box
2309, San Rafael, CA 94912. Please allow
six weeks for delivery.
LISTS. $3 brings next 3 8 pp. lists, stereos,tins, other photos. Or write wants. Al &Cathv Ravmond. Box 509. Richfield
GORGEOUS BLOND 19 year old, Barbi,
in ten sensuous nude poses (color), fromthe private collection of Ron Gustafson,
ten views Realist format $20.00. Ron
Gustafson, 909 S. Oriole Circle #102, Va.
Beach, VA 23451.
STEREO VIEW CATALOG. Military,
Western, Occupational, City views, etc.
Send $1.00 for comprehensive catalog ofstereo views plus early newspapers,
books, documents & images at affordable
prices. Gordon Totty, 576 Massachusetts
Ave., Luneburg, MA 01462.

graphical, topical range. Or write wants.
Raymond, Box 509, Richfield Springs, NY
13439.
UNDERWOOD & UNDERWOOD sets at
flea market prices! Italy 100 cards complete VG-E (few slightly stained) in Keystone World Tour box $50. Switzerland 99
of 100 set E in Key World Tour box (fair)$50. Egypt 99 of 100 E in Key Tour box $75.
Palestine 94 of 100 (no box) $45. India 54
of 100 E (no box) $30. Ireland 92 of 100
VG-E (some stained)seldom seen, no box$45. Grand Canyon 16 of 18 E (no box) $15.
Postage and insurance $4.00 per set.
John Weiler, 49 E. Longview Ave.,
Columbus, OH 43202 (614) 263-$296.
NEW STEREOSCOPESof walnut, leather.
and brass. Round cornered . 0 4 8 " ~ 3 % " ~ 7 "flat cards in black or grey. Mounting jig forstandard format print views. Send SASE
to: Red Wing View Co., 1234 Phelps, Red
Wing, MN 55066.

harbor views, etc. Also Brooklyn Bridge
under construction. Send photocopies
and prices to: Jeffrey Richman, 52 Harriet
Lane, Huntington, NY 11743.
TRU-VUE 1933 Century of Progress Expo,
one or all eight. View-Masters #3301,2,4,
5, 7. Jeff Molloy, 45 Dorothy Hgt., Wappingers Falls, NY 12590 (914) 297-3342.
--

URGENTLY REQUIRE Nude Daguerreotypes. S. Leonard, P.O. Box 127, Albertson,
NY 11507 Tel. (516) 742-0979.
EARLY CLEVELAND views needed. Also
nudes and Victorian architecture. Also
seeking Darrah's Stereo Views: A Historyof Stereographs in America in VG condition. Charles Petry, 3424 West 94 Street,
Cleveland, OH 44102.

from 1952,
Stereo $1.25,2~2756. All B&W, dozens ofmodels, 1,200 different slides available.
Add $1.00 shipping. D. Berenson, 32
Colwell Ave., Brighton, Mass 02135 (617)254-1565.

OPERA & THEATER PERSONALITIESviews of celebrities, theaters (interiors/
exteriors), performances, advertisements.
Especially Anthonys, Gurneys, Saronys,
London Stereoscopics and "Celebrities
Theatricales" of Adelina Patti, Nilsson,
Kellog, etc. James Camner, P.O.B. 268,
Plainsboro, NJ 08536.

STEREOSCOPES, old, originals, notrepros., dated 1901, mint, wood and metal,
Underwood & U., $49., postpaid. Marvin
Balick, 5900 Kennett Pike, Wilmington,
DE 19807 (302). . 655-3055. Only have 8.

FLORIDA STEREO VIEWS wanted. Send
Price. MarkV. Barrow. 1130 NW 64th Terr..
Gainesville, FL 32601.

35MM NUDE SLIDES -All

1984 VIEW-MASTER CATALOG. 40 pages
packets and supplies. Worldwide scenics
from View-Master in U.S., Canada &Europe. Worldwide 7427-VM, Washburn
South, Minneapolis, MN 55423.

TRADE
WlLL TRADE CLASSIC BOOK: Stereoscopic Photography by A.W. Judge, 1926,
240 pages, illustrated, G/VG for 52mm
Pentax Stereo Adaptor & Stereo Viewer.
R. Deurbrouck, 166 Fernwood Ave.,
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R2M 1C3.

EHO 120 ROLL FILM stereo box camera(German, circa 1930). Duplar lenses,
simple shutter, minor wear at edges ofcamera. Cloth covered metal. $105 pp.
Beheim, 311 El Monte Road, El Cajon, CA
92020 (619) 442-6579.

COMPLETE SETS with boxes wanted.
Wayne A. Boynton, 11333 Aceme Road,
W. Palm Beach, FL 33414.

BOOKS - Krause "Three Dimensional
Projection" $28; Tydings "Stereo Realist
Guide" $18; many other books, magazines, etc. of the 50's and 60's - send
your want list. Steven Perand, 1601
Mallard Ln., Virginia Beach, VA 23455(804) 464-2842.

THOUSAND ISLANDS and St. LawrenceRiver views, stereos or singles, especiallyones by Mclntyre, Anthony, Bain, Monroe
and Esson. Glad to pay cash or will trade.
views you want. Jack Brown, Box 439,
RR #3, Mallorytown, Ontario, KOE 1RO
Canada.

PHOTO LISTS - 3 eight p. $3, stereos,
CDV's, tins, cabinets, etc. Wide geo-

NEW YORK CITY STEREO VIEWS, 18601880. Street scenes, buildings, dock andWANTED

AUSTRALIA, TASMANIA, New Zealandviews. Generous purchase or trade. I'm
desperate to locate any early Australianphotographica for research purposes,
even if not for sale. Please help Nigel
Lendon, Box 142, Balmain, NSW, Australia
2041.
FLORIDA STEREOS of historical value,
especially Tallahassee, Tampa andGainesville. Price and describe or sendon approval; highest prices paid for pre1890 views. No St.Augustine. Hendriksen,
P.O. Box 21153, Kennedy Space Center,
FL 32815.
WlLL PAY $50 for any Bierstadt Bros. viewof Kansas or Nebraska. Also want Lincoln
funeral, Visits of Jap. Embassy, Prince ofWales, Russian Grand Duke, Anthony
Portrait Gallery Seriesand views by John
Moran. Happy to trade for your wants.
Wilfred Thompson, Box 326, Davisburg,
MI 48019.
JACKSON BROS., OMAHA, NEB. stereos
and CDV's. Any subject. Also, want anything by N. Brown,Santa Fe. Dave Delling,
28887 Clover Lane, Evergreen, CO 80439.
(303) 674-3094.

MASSACHUSETTS all stereo views ofGloucester,Annisquam, Essex, Lanesville,
Magnolia, Manchester, Pigeon Cove,
Rockport, and Cape Ann. Please listor send on approval - New collector.
Charles Dennis, 165 Woodland Drive,
Uncasville, CT 06382.
COLORADO RAILROAD stereo views
wanted by collector/author. Also seeks
town views, street scenes, farming andmining views. Glass negativesand cabinet
views also desired. David S. Digerness,4953 Perry Street, Denver CO 80212.
ILLINOIS AND MISSOURI stereo views.
Please describe and price or send on
approval. Can use any Illinois views except Chicago. Especially want views of
Quincy, Illinois. Philip Germann, Box 847,
Galesburg, IL 61401.
VIEWSAND PRlNTSof pre-1890 wineries,
people using corkscrewsor unusual winecellars. Also buying cabinet cards andlarger prints showing electric train layouts
and cars. RoBerta Etter, P.O. Box 22,
Oradell, NJ 07649.
JAPANESE SUBJECT VIEWS, early flat tolate curved: American, European, Australian or Japanese issue. Uncommon
singles, any complete or broken boxed
sets. Russo-Japan War singles of officers
or Red Cross/Hospital Scenes. Any preOkinawa (Ryukyu) images. Rob & Etsuko
Oechsle, Box 55, Kadena, Okinawa-Ken,
904-02 Japan.
MUYBRIDGE VIEWS.
Top prices paid.
Michigan and mining -theM's.
Many views availab1e
trade.
Walle949525 W. Seven Mile* Northville3MI
48167 (313) 348-9145.
MATHEMATICS -Am seeking information on the use of stereographs todemonstrate mathematical concepts. Will
consider purchasing Xeroxes or reasonably priced originals. Ken Hamilton, Dept.
of Mathematics,Colby College, Waterville,
ME 04901.

AMERICAN RAILROAD VIEWS, all format.
Especially London Stereo North American;
Anthony-Erie, Penn. Cent. & etc.; Civil War
RR by Anthony, Brady,Taylor & Huntington;
Baldwin Locomotive Works. Dave Rousar,
2633 Agua Vista, San Jose, CA 95132.
LANTERNSLIDES or projectors. I will pay
fair prices or swap for stereographs, including stereo dags, early Anthony, boxed
sets, etc. Best prices for pre-1800 magic
lanterns and wood-mounted, mechanicalslides, Larry Rakow, 1585 Maple, Cleveland
Hgts., OH 44121.
~~-~

BAMFORTH stereographs, glass slides
and postcards. Scherer, Apt. 5, 1649
Dewey Street, Hollywood, FL 33020.
OLD LANDSCAPE VIEWS of Glasgow by
Cramb, if possible,quote price and condition to Freeman F. Hepburn, 557 PleasantSt., #203, Malden, MA 02148.
CYCLING AND CYCLING RELATED, alsotennis, stereo views, cabinets 8. CDV's.
Will buy or exchangefrom largevariety ofstereo views. All letters answered. B.
Ginns, 152 East 84th St., New York, NY
10028.
BOLEX STEREO PROJECTION LENS andadapter sleeves, 8mm and 16mm stereo
feature films and cartoons. Kodaslide II
stereo viewer, Brian Murphy, 135-53
Northern Blvd., Flushing, NY 11354.
EYE-TRAINING AND EYE-TESTING
stereo (and non-stereo)cards and equipment. Please send prices and details(numbers and titles on cards, equipment
descriptions, etc.) to D. Berenson, 32
Colwell Ave., Brighton, Mass 02135 (617)254-1565.
SHAKER STEREO VIEWS, photos, postcards wanted. Please send Xerox & priceto Richard Brooker, 775 Avenue of theAmericas, New York, NY 10001.

HOLYLAND WANTED. Buy Maxine deCamp $20; Salzmann $20; C.F. Spittler $5;
British War Office Survey $5. EF or better.
Bert Zuckerman, 390 River Dr., Hadley,
MA 01035.
FLAT MOUNT KENTUCKY views in any
condition. Also views by J.A. Williams,
J.A. French, J. Freeman. Wes Cowan,
P.O. Box 98, Northville, MI 48167 (313)349-4767.
S.F. EARTHQUAKE by H.C. White (sendview number, description, condition &price). Also Teddy Roosevelt & RoughRiders. John Johanek, R.D. 2, Box 261-1,
New Tripoli, PA 18066.Will send "wantlist".
AUGUSTA, GA stereo views and CDV's.
Any publisher, type and date. Also otherGeorgia stereo views. Joe Lee, 306
Shadowmoor Dr., Decatur, GA 30030.
WATKINS VIEWS of Seattle and Puget
Sound #5201-5263. Also any views ofWashington State. Buy or trade. T. Wake,
3540 SW Rose, Seattle, WA 98126 (206)928-3057.
AMERICAN HISTORICAL SERIES by
D. Barnum and American Stereoscopic
Views by George Stacy (logo and text onback). Other views by these photographers
also wanted. L. Gottheim, Box 176,
Johnson City, NY 13790.
REALIST CUSTOM F2.8; accessories.
Also Baja C-21-8L8 drawer library cabinet
for 2x2 or 1600 stereo slides in groups. All
in excellent condition. Carl Wayo, 4199
Highland, Fremont, MI 49412.
LUKE & WHEELER - Also other Colorado
non-scenic by Goodman, Hine, Weitfle,
Chamberlain, Mellen, Collier, Miller,
Gurnsey, Martin, McLean, Duhem Bros.,Kuyendall, Barnhouse,Jackson, & Wakely.
Bill Eloe, 1850 Laguna #3-D, Concord, CA
94520 (415) 682-4236.
I

SOCIETY NOTEBOOK(continued from page 53)

Speedy Folio.Bill C. Walton
Brandt Rowles
John Dennis
Bill Patterson
Wil Metcalf
Sherry Lovato
Paul Fisher
Ray Bohman
Nick Graver
Craig Daniels
Jack Cavender

Total
PointsNumber of 1st
Place Votes

I
I
AUCTIONSII
I SASE FOR FIRST LIST I
I
Robert Wright1
1 503 Morton, Ashland OR 97520

ll-llllllb
lll

J

Favorite Views - 1st - (tie)"Mout Training1'- Bill C. Walton"Williamsburg Stream"- Brandt Rowles
2nd - "Cooperative Make-up"- Bill Patterson
14
13
12
12

1
0
1
0

SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP
Persons interested in Society membership should write
to the Corresponding Secretary, William Shepard, 425
North Morada Avenue, West Covina, CA 91790.

LEON JACOBSON
A ~ i t i c l ~IBllotographic.u~et1ILl)F & I F O N IA<'ORSONl h l CiFNt:Sf:I: I'lIKK I ) R I V t
SYRACIJSF, N . Y 13,724. (315) 446-8145(AFTER APRIL 5th)
CALL (305) 474-5349 BEFOREAPRIL 1st.
?LEASE INCLUDE $1.50 SHIPPING COSTS WITH EACH ORDER.
41-1

T.O.C. Stereo V i v i d Deluxe model T16A p r o j e c t o r w/case.
750 w. lamps w/spare p a i r . 2 manual s l i d e changers (onef o r 35nm mtd. s t e r e o s ; t h e o t h e r f o r 2 x 2 s l i d e s ) . Fourp r . good P o l a r o i d g l a s s e s & about 50 p r . d i s p o s a b l e
glasses. One manual t r a y changer w/one t r a y . A l l E/VG,$375 p l u s $10 s h i p f o r l o t

41-2

Langenheim glass s t e r e o view w i t h 1850 p a t e n t d a t e (seeI ' l ~ o n c o r d e r i held 5 *l;~vsfor receipt o f payment.
I'roiilpr ~ e l r ~ l i ont l \ c ~ l d itcnis. If) day r ~ n c o n d ~ t ~ o n a l
r c l ~ l n dprivilrpc Incltldr c h ~ p p ~ nc op c l i (wlrcre r c t l u ~ r r d )& N . Y . State ~ I c laxs (11 rec~dcllt).
A I ) I ) I I I O N A I I I t M S A l t l i 4 V A l l Alll.fi.
1.1.1 1IS L N O W Y O I I R W A N I S .

ITEM 41-1 REQUIRES $10 SHIP

41-20

N a t i o n a l L i n c o l n Monument, Oak Ridqe Cemetary. Springf i e l d , Ill. A green-mt. view by T r e s i z e . View appears
t o be an albumen p r i n t from a dwg, b u t n a r r a t i v e reads"photographed" and p r o v i d e s monument s t a t i s t i c s . E, $4.

41-21

D i g g i n g a C d b i . A y e l l o w mt. view photographed i n
D e t r o i t by Bardwell o f horse-drawn plows and wagons being
used t o excavate. G, some s o i l & crease between views,
b u t an i n t e r e s t i n g scene, $6.

An 1856 view
The W o d d 06 Steheoghapks, Oarrah, p.21.
o f SunnySide, I r v i n g t o n , N.Y.: t h e home o f Washington
I r v i n g . I r v i n g (1783-1859), t h e a u t h o r of The Legend 06
Seeepy HoUow, poses i n t h e doorway. T i n t e d , E tones &cond.. b u t c o n t a i n s numerous f l e c k s of o r g a n i c d e p o s i t s ,
5165.

41-22

Robinson, B a l t i m o r e , 8. & 0. RR. Two yellow-mt. views;
one a b i r d s - e y e view o f a r i v e r . The o t h e r o v e r l o o k i n g
r a i l r o a d t r a c k s a l o n g a body o f water, VG. $7 f o r t h e p a i r

41-23

41-3

Langeheim-American Stereoscopic Co, Langeheim, L l o y d &Co., 1858 l a b e l . Niagcua(W&ten edge 06 H o u e - n h o e F&.
Crudely t i n t e d , G, a l i t t l e s o i l i n g , $9.

Yellow mt. view by Purviance. 170 P m y n u U e BtLidge,
l o o k i n g up a t a wood-burning l o c o m o t i v e & passenger c a r
on a s t e e l t r e s t l e . G, $9.

41-24

41-4

No. 5-Old Mammoth Ghapc Vine. Orange mt. adv. view o f
S e r v e r ' s Mamnoth grape Vine R e s o r t , Santa Barbara, Cal.
by T u t t l e , 1875. Of t r e e - l i k e g r a p e v i n e t h a t dwarfs
men around i t . VG, h a r d l y d i s c e r n a b l e c r a c k / c r e a s ethrough one view, $6.

Another---ST7 Pack Saddle.
r o a d r i g h t - o f - w a y . G, $4.

41-25

Another---Wood-burning l o c o m o t i v e p u f f s along i n f o r e ground, on r a i l curve, w h i l e f r e i g h t t r a i n w a i t s i n t h ebackground. G, $12.

41-26

New York "EL".
A worm's-eye view, c a b i n e t s i z e d o f a New
York C i t y e l e v a t e d t r a i n . Four c a r s a r e drawn by a donkey
engine on t h e e l e v a t e d s t r u c t u r e . Horse-drawn wagons
s t a n d on t h e r o a d beneath i n a r u r a l area. No maker's
l a b e l , G, c o r n e r s dog-eared, $5.

41-27

K i n z u a Viaduct. N.Y.L.E.
6 W.R.R.
A steel t r e s t l e withtwo passenger t r a i n s , nose-to-nose w i t h another locomotive
in-between. Probably t h e f i n a l b r i d g e t e s t . Cabinets i z e d b e i g e mt. by J. West, B r a d f o r d , Pa. O r i g i n a l ownerp e n c i l e d comment t h a t rode over b r i d g e d u r i n g honeymoon.
G, some s o i l , $8

41-5

C e n t r a l P a c i f i c R a i l r o a d , C.R. Savage, Utah green mt.
view, Bloomen C u t c o h t $1,000,000
conh-.
Railt r a c k pass. G, some g l u e marks & s t a i n i n one p r i n t , $7.

41-6

Another---Waksatch Mount&~n,
ShOm t h e U n i w m i Y y Viewo f houses w i t h p i c k e t fences and mountains i n t h e background. G, $7

41 - 7

No. 606, Snow Cave Rocky M o u W Wabatch Range, penned
on r e v e r s e l a b e l o f Haines, Albany, N.Y.
Interestingy e l l o w mt. view o f men i n t h e cavern formed by snow. G,
$8.

41-8

W a t k i n ' s P a c i f i c Coast, y e l l o w mt. view, Lowen Cathedtlae
Rack 1007. G, l i g h t p r i n t w i t h c h i p o u t o f c a r d c o r n e r ,$5.
Another---orange mt., 2047. Sea Lionh, West End,FamLeone
I n l a n d s . G, I t . s t a i n on one p r i n t , $7.

41-9

View o f a c u r v e on t h e r a i l -41-28

Locomotive-A worm's-eye view o f a wood-burning 4-4-0
locomotive, t e n d e r and baggage c a r on a h i g h t r e s t l e .
Yellow mt. view w i t h 8 e e c h m Cascade p e n c i l l e d on reverse
G, $9.
THE FOLLOWING 5 VIEWS ARE FROM THE WAR FOR THE UNION YELLOW MT.
ANTHONY SERIES. ALL ABOUT GOOD CONO., SOME FOXING. $18 EACH.

W. H. Jackson, Denver. A b e i g e c a b i n e t - s i z e d view, 1218,
S&e
Fe. O66iceh'n Q u a h t m , Ft. Mmcy. P r e t t y homes
w i t h p i c k e t fences. G, m i l d f o x i n g i n sky area, $12.

41-29

No. 2300-Shve Pen, A L e x a n f i , VA.,

41 -3041-11!.nother---693,
WiUifunn' Canon, 6mm The N m o w n .
view taken t h r o u g h a p a s s , VG, $17.

No. 2590-Gen. Ghant's 6awohite d i d d hotlde C i n c i n n d .
Taken at C a y P o i n t , VA.

41-31

41-12

Powell Thompson survey. A y e l l o w c a b i n e t - s i z e d view byJohn K. H i l l i e r s . 1874, I n d i a n s o f t h e Colorado V a l l e ySeries, No. 33, KAL-VAV-ITS.
Of an I n d i a n f a m i l y having
a meal. G, $30.

No. 3105-Meeting St., ChLvLeeston, S.C. Loohing South,
showing t h e )ULiYL6 06 OizcLLean chwrrh and t h e ,hlieCs Houhe,
S t . M i c h a e l ' n Chuhch in t h e did.tance.
W/revenue stamp.

41-32

No. 3310-Amy 06 t h e Potomnc. Loohing up P e n ~ y L u a n i a
Awe. 6mm t h e Theasmy 8luRdcngd. A d i w O i o n 06 AhtieCety
pass&g .in R e v i e w W/revenue stamp t o r n .

41-10

A niceby Brady.

41-13

Thomas Housworth & Co.-Yellow mt. view, 1172 The Geyseh
H o t e l , 6mm t h e Cnateh, Sonoma County, Cd. G, $7.

41-33

41-14

Another---orange mt. 1801 I n .the Ghounds, Nohth 06 t h e
H o t e l . G, b u t c e n t e r c r a c k s p l i c e d w i t h cardboard i nback, $4.

No. 3417-Admihae Dahegnan. Taken on boahd U.S.S. P m e e ,By Brady, revenue stamp t o r n &ChLvLeeston Hmboh, S.C.
one c o r n e r c l i p p e d .

41-34

41-15

I n t e h i o h 06(Monmon]Tabehnade---.
C a r t e r , S a l t Lake C i t y , VG, $7.

C i v i l War a f t e r m a t h - F o r t Sumpter. A yellow-mt. view oft h e damaged s t r u c t u r e by G.(eorge) N. Barnard. G. $18.

41-35

41-16

Be6ohe and A6teh The F h e - B o b t o n , Now. 9 and 10, 1872.
A "Combination View", o f P e a r l St.. w i t h view on one
s i d e b e f o r e t h e f i r e and t h e d e s t r u c t i o n a f t e r , on t h ereverse. VG, s c u f f e d corners, $8.

An orange mt. view by V0n
The B a t t e r y , C h a r l e s t o n , S.C.
Santen. View o f promonade, b u i l d i n g s & water; f r i g a t e s i n
d i s t a n c e . VG, $8.

41-36

Comic Pair-U. & U. curved t a n mts. t h e f i r s t , 1450
shoulden h. TWO l o v e r s i n each o t h e r ' s arms. Boy i n
o r n a t e dress uniform. Pa watches from doorway. The
second, 1451 C h g e Bayonets! Pa pushes s o l d i e r boy t h r uwindow w i t h a f i x e d bayonet. VG/E, $5 f o r t h e p a i r .

41-37

Another---532A B u s . Couple i n each o t h e r ' s arms. Ma &Pa g e t t i n g ready f o r bed. 533A B u n D d t m b e d . Pa
ushers s u i t o r outdoors w h i l e Ma l e a d s daughter t o be bed
b y h e r ear. VG/E, $5.
Comic-The Woman Bahben, American Stereoscopic CO. t a ncurved mt. Woman barber d a i n t l y h o l d s s t r a i g h t razor;withh e r s t o c k i n g e d knee almost exposed(heavens! ) w h i l e
l a t h e r e d customer s m i l e s a t h e r . E, $3.

Green mt. view by

41-17

4275 Copey Squane, Bonton. A U n i v e r s a l gray c u r v e d mt.
view o f t h e Square w i t h what appears t o be a m i l i t a r yparade p a s s i n g through. VG, $3.

41-18

New York S t a t e assembly i n session. Two views, y e l l o wmt., one marked Haines & E l l i o t , Albany. Probably
taken by "magnesium 1 i g h t " as l a b e l a d v e r t i s e s . G, $7
f o r the pair.

41-19

Otsego Lake Scenery, W.G. Smith, Cooperstown, N.Y. Twogreen-mt. views o f 4 men; one taken a l o n g t h e l a k e ' sshore w i t h b o a t s & b a i t b u c k e t s ; t h e o t h e r n e x t t ohammocks. G. $8 f o r t h e p a i r .

41-38

NEW I N STOCK

by WUPI of I t a l y.........
...

STEREOPOCKXI' a v a i l a b l e l i g h t 3-3 viewer
3-Diland 50-view c o l o r transparency c a r t r i d g e$7.50 each + $1.50* postage
4.25 each +,5O* postage

Cartridge T i t l e s
1002
1003
1004
1007
1008
1009

Rome, I t a l y
Venice, I t a l y
Florence, I t a l y
Naples, I t a l y
Lake Garda, I t a l y
The A d r i a t i c Coast

1053
109
1055

1056
1057
1102

German Northsea Coast
The Main t o t h e Danube
The E i f e l Region
Sauerland t o t h e Weser
5 Countries on t h e Rhine
P a r i s , France

Each 3-Diland c a r t r i d g e comes with a d e s c r i p t i v e booklet i n f i v e languages,
one of which is English.
The Stereopocket viewer and c a r t r i d g e work l i k e most f i l m - c a r t r i d g e cameras
with t h e film being advanced when t h e l e v e r i n t h e upper r i g h t of t h e viewer i s
pushed. The s i z e of t h e viewed image appears t o be wlder and s l i g h t l y h i g h e rthan t h a t of t h e s t a n d a r d View-Master viewer,W
e a r e o f f e r i n g t h i s system only as a c u r i o s i t y o r toy....because m i r r o r s
used i n t h e o p t i c s cause "shadowlng" o r "ghosting" i n t h e image which prevents
it from beinrg a first-class 3-D system.
* A l l 3-Diland merchandise comes b l i s t e r s e a l e d on oversized cardboard
designed f o r wire-rack d i s p l a y , so o u r postage and handling charges a r e h i g h e r
due t o l a r g e r boxes and extra packing needed f o r shipment. If you w i l l a c c e p t
j u s t t h e merchandise, unsealed, with none of t h e p l a s t i c o r cardboard packaging
we w i l l s h i p with no postage charges.

OUR NEWEST BELGIAN MADE VIEW-MASTER@~-REXL
TITLES$2 880 each + $ .20 postage

BC ~ ~ Z - F / N M Vallee d e la Semois
BC 363-FM
G r o t t e s d e Han-Sur-Lesse
Grand Duche de Luxembourg
BC 381-F'M
BC 382-FM
Vianden-Clervaux
BC 500-E
NorwayBC 810-E
Syria
RC 811-E
Damascus, S y r i a$1.00 Minimum postage and h a n d l i w charge
Order from c

BC 849-E
BC 889-E

BahrainS r i Lanka

BD 188-E
BD 191-E
BD 199-E
BD 216-E

Dick Turpin
Sooty
Adam and t h e Ants
Doctor Who I1- M a x i m u m $4.00

Milwaukee S t e r e o Exchange
Box 11686
Milwaukee, W I
53211-0686

No Minimum OrderVIEWS WANTEDRoBerta B. Etter

BY THESE PHOTOGRAPHERS:'Fine Antique Photographica'

Kilburn Bros. squarecornered mounts,
especially with revenue stamp; Soule,
Barnum, Pease, Bennett, Curtiss,
Heywood, Hurst, Melander, Stacy, Welter,
Langenheim, E.L. Wilson. Early English
and European photographers, especially
Wm. England, Braun, G.W. Wilson, Frith,
Ogle & Edge, York, and Bedford.

GLASS AND TISSUE VIEWSWANTED, ESPECIALLY EUROPEAN
MAKERS AND SUBJECTS.
FLAT-MOUNT VlEWS WANTED IN
THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:
Industry, farming, occupations, disasters,
maritime, people, plants and animals, expositions, comic and genre.
Will purchase or trade.
T.K. Treadwell
4201 Nagle Rd. Bryan, TX 77801.

Est. 1972
Quality Antique Cameras,
Fine Da~uerreotmes.
,
Unique Stereo Viewe& Views, Tops in
Photo Ephemera!
V

+'
,

* A

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CATALOG:
3 issues $8
Overseas 812
P.O. Box 22
Oradell, N.J. 07649-.-. Send Your Want List toreceive a copy of ourquarter1y supplemental
Stereo List with over
300 l o t s per issue!!!!

ILL

THIRTY-TWO STEREO COMPUTER DRAWINGSWRITE FOR NEW
1984 CATALOGSTEREOPHOTOGRAPHY
UNI,IMITEJ)
STEREO(>RAPSiI(' EOITIPMENTNIMSLO $95.
Irctu.1$5."

114- r 4 112-

slza 2plus

address goodfor

$ l . O O

handling

untll

Msy

3 0 , 1984

f r e e v l e r l n g or l e n s v i e r { n p . )Dan DychmanBox G
B r o w n U n i v . Med.

SCh.

Providence*

02906

GREG .I. TAI*I.OH
813-340-1862 EVENIN(IIIPHOTOGRAPHICA IVINTAGE AMERICANA
H ; ~ r ~ d c r ; ~ f tw
e do o d &Stereoviews
Photo Postcards

5900 Kennen Pike
Ceotreville, DE 19807(302)655-3055
L-I

8bw8~p

BUY, SELL, TRADE

h & 20th Century
PHOTOGRAPHS

H?I l 2 7 ~ 1 .\\1 EKIIE N.
S T . PRTERSFlClH(1. P I , 33710

AMEX. DINERS
MASTER&&

Accepted.
N.Y S. reridenb
add sales tax.
I

4%hrass r e p l ~ c of
; ~ original, invcnted I 8 5 9 hy
O l i v e r W r n < l r l l Hcilrnes. 'Turn o f t h e c e n t u r v
design o n velvet t r i m m e d hrass h o o d . 1nclude.s
h i s t o r i c a l h o o k l e t & I . R I < l <set 3-11 stereographic views. ONLY S49.95. Pedestal
hase, $12.95 ( a d d $3.00 shpg. & hdlg:).
A d d l . V i e w Sets A v a i l . ~ n c l u d i n gV l c t o r i a n Risque. O l d West, San 1,rancisco
I<arthquake a n d m a n y more.
~

To order call toll free (800) 223-6694
T.M. VISUAL INDUSTRIES INC. 212 W.35th St.,N.Y.,N.Y.10001

I

I

DO INSECTS SEE STEREO?
If you've been losing sleep wondering whether
insects see stereo, you can finally relax. According toa report published in the British science journal
NATURE, at least your pet praying mantis (andprobably other bugs as well) could enjoy your stereo
slides with you - as long as you build it a small enoughviewer.
A very small pair of base-out prisms (with muchthe same effect as a Holmes type viewer) was placedin front of a mantis, which was held in place by thethorax, to determine if the increased retinal disparity
would affect the way the insect reacted to a small fly
held in front of it as a target. The effect was auite
measurable and confirmedcihe presence of binoc'ular
stereopsis in insects with more precision than theprevious means of simply blinding them in one eye
and watching their behavior.
Records were first made of the "strike" motions of

the mantis feet and head without the prisms when
the target was moved in front of it on a precisionplottinidevice. After the distance at which the mantis
would strike at the target was determined, the prisms
were suspended 2mm in front of the forward-looking
eyes. "Obviously," (quoting from the paper) "thisarrangement of prisms increases retinal disparity,
without altering monocular depth cues such as motion
parallax and image size. Thus, if the mantids are using
binocular triangulation, they should strike short of
the target by an amount that is positively correlatedwith the prism strength."That is exactly what happened - the mantids struck
short of the target despite the fact that their heads
were left free to move around to use peripheral vision
or establish motion parallax information. While manysuch other cues might help, it seems that the true
distance of moving prey is established by stereo vision
for insects with forward looking eyes. Vertebrates
are therefore not alone in having evolved stereopsis.
To call a super close-up stereo of a flower a "bug's-eyeview" can no longer be simply a figure of speech.
"Binocular Stereopsis in an Insect" was reported bySamuel Rossel of the Zoology Department of the
University of Zurich, Switzerland and appeared in
the April 1983 issue of NATURE, page 821.

Detail of #72 from the DIABLERIES
set of tissue views published by B.K.
Photographie Paris. From Paul Wing's
article in this issue, "The B.K.