Stereoscope cards. Whanganui Regional Museum collection ref: 1998.10.5ag & 1998.10.2 ac
Stereoscope cards. Whanganui Regional Museum collection ref: 1998.10.5ag & 1998.10.2 ac
Growing up in the 1960s, one of my favourite toys was an orange plastic View-Master which came with thin cardboard discs containing pairs of small Kodachrome photographs.
When viewed through the apparatus it created the illusion of three-dimensional scenes of a diverse range of subjects such as famous landmarks, cartooncharacters and fairy tales.
The View-Master debuted at the World's Fair in 1939 in New York and was intended as an alternative to the scenic postcard. It was originally sold at photography shops, stationery stores and scenic-attraction gift shops.
But the origins of this toy date back to the early 1800s to an invention called the stereoscope. Mr Elliot, a mathematics teacher from Edinburgh, produced the first stereoscopes as early as 1823 using drawn transparent landscapes, as photography was still in its early stages.
David Brewster, a Scottish scientist, author and academic administrator who invented the kaleidoscope, is mostly remembered for his work in physical optics and was known as "The father of modern experimental optics". He is credited with refining Elliot's invention which he called a "lenticular stereoscope" (lenticular meaning relating to the lens of the eye).
His was the first portable 3D-Viewing device. It was subsequently displayed, with considerable success, at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851, where it impressed none other than Queen Victoria. It quickly became a great commercial success; nearly half a million devices were sold by 1856.
Stereoscope, c.1902. Whanganui Regional Museum collection ref: 1998.10.1
During the era of the "parlour stereoscope", the device became a familiar fixture in Victorian homes, and stereographic cards eventually numbered in the millions. Most stereograph cards depicted places, especially places where British people desired to travel.
Photographers captured scenes of picturesque beauty, old towns, peasants in "authentic" costumes, churches, ruined castles and scenic landscapes.
For those unable to go on the Grand Tour, photographers visited those places most popular and produced travel cards to enable people to "visit" these places from the comfort of their own homes, rather like watching travel vlogs today.
There is a website devoted to stereoscopes with blogs from artists using stereoscope principles to produce all kinds of artworks: https://stereoscopy.blog/
A frequent contributor to the website is Dr Brian May, lead guitarist for the rock group Queen, who holds a personal archive of stereoscope cards.
And today there are 3D applications for smartphones. You can by walking around the object or person, taking multiple photographs, and the smartphone will produce a 3D image. Mr Elliot's invention has come a long way since 1823.
• Kathy Greensides is collection assistant at the Whanganui Regional Museum.
