Ian Ference's 3D blog on all things stereographic, from classic scopes & stereoviews to historical context & modern analysis
As the British Aristocracy fell into decline, they were forced to open the doors to their stately historic houses to the common person. Here's a look at some, from 1956 in VistaScreen 3D.
On this week's Sunday Travels, we're in for a pleasant surprise - Keystone View Company not only created a number of pretty great stereoviews, but they treated their subjects with respect. A stark contrast to Australia and most of The Netherlands, we'll look at the likely explanation for the nice stereography and barely-racist text.
Sunday Travels is back - with a ridiculous look at Australia, courtesy of KVC. The only thing more common than kangaroos in this set of stereoviews is stereotyping - at which Keystone excelled. Some come aboard, and see all the excitement of 'roos, sheep, and a really big rock!
Today marks the 80th anniversary of the German invasion of Poland, and thus, the Second World War. And of course, Heinrich Hoffman and Raumbild were there to capture it. While we can't celebrate this anniversary, we can study it - with 80 stereoviews split between two posts. This one focuses on "Die Soldaten des Führers im Felde Band I: Der Feldzug in Polen".
The Free City of Danzig was created at the end of the Great War by the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. This was intended to be a slap in the face to Germany - and two decades later, 80 years ago to the day, Germany fired the first shots here to jumpstart the Second World War.
For our final Sunday in The Netherlands, we're back in Amsterdam - about half a century before Raumbild's "Holland". Expect canals, wooden shoes, quaint street scenes - and a couple of really great stereoviews from KVC!
We've looked at some great VistaScreen, some interesting VistaScreen, and some just plain silly VistaScreen on this blog. But here, we're going to look at the absolute dregs of VistaScreen - which also happens to be one of the most popular sets the company produced during its mid-period in the late 1950s.
In this installment of Sunday Travels, we take a look at Delft, The Hague, and Leiden - all in the areas around last week's subject, Rotterdam. These views prove to be far more superior, as they spend less time buying into stereotypes, and more time actually capturing their subjects.
Douglas Adams hated Heathrow Airport. My wife likes it. Somewhere in between these points of view, there was the 1950s "London Airport", as captured here by VistaScreen. In this essay, we'll explore the nature of documentary stereography that was probably boring when shot but has become more interesting with the passage of time.
Benjamin White bought a Napoleonic-era coastal fort in 1957. Instead of turning it into a museum, his vision was a huge model village - and the bizarre Blue Grotto Aquarium. And who was on the scene to capture two weird attractions in one old fort? Why, Stanley Long of VistaScreen, of course!