Ian Ference's 3D blog on all things stereographic, from classic scopes & stereoviews to historical context & modern analysis
Long-time readers of Brooklyn Stereography should be unsurprised that I love amateur glass stereoviews. In this article, I use a set of seven received earlier this week to highlight exactly why.
An amateur set containing 7 views from the Great War: 3 of an ambulance convoy leaving to pick up the wounded of Champagne, 3 of a convoy at Saint-Mesmes, and one of soldiers camped in a small village (probably the latter).
4 "digital prints" from negatives of life in the camp of the 36th Artillery Regiment stationed in Saint Airy Forest at Verdun in January 1918 show snowbound soldiers near one's shelter - as well as a peek into the shelter itself!
In the final post in the Month of Remembrance series, we take a look at a merry band of soldiers preparing to "execute" what I've decided to call a "Snowboche" - a simple end to a complex series, much like the Great War itself.
While not as commonly represented in exciting sets of stereoviews, photographs and newsreels from the front - or any media really, standing around and shooting the breeze was as much a part of Great War life as ducking for cover during a bombardment or hastily fitting a gas mask. These were men at war, but foremost, they were men living their lives.
French soldiers passed the interminably long days, weeks, and months in the trenches in numerous ways. One of these ways was by playing the card game Manille.