Ian Ference's 3D blog on all things stereographic, from classic scopes & stereoviews to historical context & modern analysis
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.
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".
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?
In 1935, neither the phrase nor the concept of "politically correct" was in existence. Nowhere is this more evident than in this set of 14 stereoviews from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus - in this case, the Greatest Freak Show on Tru Vue 3D.
Excerpt from rear of card: "This man has a clown dog. Clown dogs are very smart. They are trained to do many tricks. Most clown dogs like to be with the circus even though they do have to work hard."