Genevieve Ference's 3D blog on all things stereographic, from classic scopes & stereoviews to historical context & modern analysis
One of the parcels which arrived on "Christmas in July" two days ago contained a wooden box - with about 500 amateur glass stereoviews contained within. Today, we take a look at two boxes at random, in an attempt to determine what this acquisition consists of, who might have taken it, and whether it is, indeed, a cohesive collection, as opposed to a random pile of amateur glass.
My opinion that Finland is a weird and wonderful place is not tempered by this Mikro-Kino filmstrip, the first I'll be posting of seven I currently own. A barely-known competitor to Tru-Vue, if they can be called a competitor being that they began producing their "filmseries" after Tru-Vue was bought out, Mikro-Kino offers a 3D look at the world of Finland and beyond through Finnish eyes.
In existing since the first decade after the Norman Conquest, Dudley Castle was destroyed by the Parliamentary siege during the First English Civil War. Now the grounds are a zoo - and are fully open to the public. The Levellers, Diggers, and Ranters would be proud!
The post-war Raumbild-Verlag Siegfried Brandmüller series "Greece" is primarily focused on ruins, as so many Grecian stereoviews seem to be. Still, they come alive wonderfully in this short series.
While he is primarily known for his views of Niagara Falls, and secondarily known for his expeditions to Yosemite, Charles "Chas" Bierstadt got around - most of the views featured here are at neither of his favored locations. Chas got around!
A random search on a French merchants' website led me to discover the fact that Vistascreen made views marketed to the French market - and there are almost certainly more.
It's not surprising that the newly-formed Tru-Vue company of Rock Island, Illinois decided to try their hand in the advertising market. Nor is it surprising that they chose a local institution for one of their first advertising filmstrips. What is surprising is that this early subject was a girls' Catholic school run by the Salesian Sisters - and that the stereo photography is actually pretty darn good, considering!
Looking for a ridiculous series of stereoscopic photographs on one subject that were probably all taken in the course of an hour and possibly all given captions in the span of two minutes? Then look no further, my friends.
1933 in the finest borough of the greatest city in America is brought to life, in sepia-toned 3D in a rare second strip from Tru Vue. See the Botanical Gardens, Prospect Park, the industry on the Gowanus Canal, the Red Hook Grain Terminal - and more - all in stereo pairs & anaglyphic 3D!