Today we look at the Isle of Man, or Ellan Vannin as it's known to the speakers of its native zombie language, Manx Gaelg. A small island in the Irish Sea, this self-governing Crown dependency was the first place in the world where women could vote in national elections - and boasts the world's oldest parliamentary body. Come take a look!
VistaScreen’s “Venezia”: Sterescopic 3D photography of the canals, monuments, and buildings of 1950s Venice
In our first full look at a non-Anglocentric series from VistaScreen, in the bilingually-captioned "Venezio". Featuring above-average stereography, this series raises some questions about the provenance of the images - and raises doubts about whether Stanley Long was involved with these at all!
Bertram Mills Circus III: The Grand Show in 3D and Final Thoughts on All 30 cards
In this third and final part of a series on VistaScreen's stereoviews featuring the Bertram Mills Circus, we look at the inferior (but scarcer) "Night" version of Series 46, which replaced the "Day" version at some point in time. We also look at possible times these photos were taken, the performers who appear in them, and the problems with shooting on slow glass plates in the dark.
Bertram Mills Circus II: Clowning Around, Balancing on Elephants, Riding a Pony, and Taming the American Indian Caricatures
In the second installment (out of three) focused on the wonders of the three VistaScreen series on the Bertram Mills Circus, I document my personal journey over the course of the last couple of years to complete Series 46 - which led to my discovery of two more complete 10-card sets, and to a fascination with VistaScreen. We also delve into the reasons why there are two alternate sets with the same designation - including the theory that some rather racially unacceptable portrayals of American Indians caused the company to change from this relatively quaint "Day Series" to the more formal, and more scarce, "Night Series".
Bertram Mills Circus I: Getting Ready for the Ballyhoo Under the Big Top
Out of love of all things circus, my very first series of images on this blog was VistaScreen C.62 "Bertram Mills Circus". This is more or less a redux of that series, revamped to greatly improve the image quality, display options, and anaglyphs, with some new information. This is the first in a series of three posts focused on 1950s VistaScreen stereography of Britain's answer to RB&BB - Bertram Mills Circus - because who doesn't love the Big Top?
Series: “By Car Through Finland. Part I.” – An Introduction to Mikro-Kino Filmstrips
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.
Dudley Zoo: Where animals roam the grounds of a Royalist castle ruined during the First English Civil War
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!
“Serie E 14 – Le Cirque”: Evidence that VistaScreen produced French stereoviews
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.
Tru-Vue Advertising: The Academy of the Visitation at Villa de Chantal, Series I
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!
3D Photos of Brooklyn in 1933 – Series 2
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!