THE COLLECTIBLES
Since the earliest days
of photography, stereoscopic viewers and images have helped
enthusiasts put their world in unique perspective.
On June 21st, 1838, Sir Charles Wheatstone
appeared before the Royal Society and delivered the first
recorded description of stereoscopic imagery- a process
which used dual prints of a single image, viewed through
a special mirrored device, to produce an illusion of three
dimensional sight.
Over
the past century and a half, the images, processes and
tools of stereography have evolved considerably, producing
a virtually limitless area of interest for collectors
and dealers.
Wheatstone, who coined the term “stereoscope”,
originally developed the device to view graphic images
drawn by hand-his own hand at first. But within months
of his Royal Society address, Fox Talbot & L.F.M.
Daguerre published the seminal work on photography itself.
Thus, stereoscopics and stereography date from the very
beginnings of photography.
After hearing about the new process of photography,
Wheatstone used it in 1841 to produce the first paper-photo
stereo image. Later attempts with daguerreotypes, begun
about 1950, suffered from the high reflectivity of the
non-paper process. That early problem limited their creation
and makes stereo daguerreotypes a rare item. Nevertheless,
stereo photography was born.
The earliest viewing devices consisted of
a very precise arrangement of mirrors, known today as
reflecting stereoscope. Others developed alternative viewing
systems. Sir David Brewster designed the first viewer
with lenses, a “lenticular stereoscope,” in
1849, and his design was in turn subjected to numerous
improvements. Oliver Wendell Holmes invested the most
popular version in 1860; it is called the “Holmes
stereoscope” or the “American stereoscope.”
Although popular in its day, only a few exist today, and
all such devices used paper prints mounted as stereo cards.
The stereographic process requires cameras
as well as viewers. Wheatstone’s first paper-print
stereo photo involved shooting two separate mono-lens
pictures according to his very precise directions. Later,
a variety of cameras and systems replaced the “mono-lens”
approach. Author K.C.M. Symons lists 50 cameras that use
35mm film, and another 300+ using other film sizes. Add
that to the host of accessories to shoot stereo with mono-lens
cameras, and the collector’s market offers innumerable
possibilities.
Stereo photography and graphics rapidly
grew popular. Stereo cards included not only photographs,
but lithographs, tissue mounts, filmstrips and slides.
Publishers mass-produced and mass-marketed their work.
People mistreated and lost them like children do today
with today’s View-Master discs.
Stereographic's lost popularity during the
depression, however, by the end of WWII, new work became
almost impossible to find; naturally much of the old went
out with the trash, too.
Stereo images, rather than viewers or cameras,
represent the bulk of today’s collectible market.
The slide-photo type of views still in use today are readily
available but not necessarily lacking in value altogether.
The older stereo-card format also remains abundant. In
either case, the rare of interesting subject and the good-conditioned
item command the best prices. Equipment provides another
market.
Keith
Anniston, a photographer of 25+ years, talked about the
current state of affairs in stereo photographic antiques
and collectibles. “Almost anything that says ‘View
Master’ on it is collectible,” Anniston said.
“If the number on it is three-digit, it is essentially
more collectible than four-digit because ViewMaster is
currently being produced. Other discs naturally have more
value. I have some (of) Cuba, when we traded with them,
from the 40s. Those are collectibles.”
Mannisto went on to say: “There are
the card-views, for the Holmes stereoscope; there’s
the Realistic format, which is mainly for home/hobby use,
not really much of a collectible. And there are the strip-type
for TruVue and discs for ViewMaster.” TruVue made
a “filmstrip” sort of stereo viewer, vs. the
disc format ViewMaster still uses today. Later, TruVue
went to the vertically oriented set of seven pairs to
complete directly with ViewMaster. “Basically,”
Mannisto said, “if its got two pictures on it that
seem to be almost identical, it’s probably collectible
stereo. Watch that that. A lot of old photos, from the
Civil War and after, are actually stereo pairs that have
been separated. If you see two apparently identical pictures,
compare them; very slight differences can clue you into
a real find.”
At an auction, someone paid $11.00 for a
funeral scene of Lincoln. Mannisto believes that the Lincoln
pair may have been just such a “discovered”
pair reassembled.
Equipment – for viewing, for shooting,
or for collecting – presents its own challenges.
To view old stereo pairs before you find an original viewer,
you may purchase a new one from the Reel 3-D Company.
They carry viewers for all formats, current and historical.
Buying old equipment requires you to bear
the entire process in mind. For example, buy a TruVue
camera knowing full well you will also need a TruVue viewer.
Mannisto pointed out in particular that
the ViewMaster Stereo Color Camera MUST include the unit
for cutting out the slides from the roll of film; without
it, you will never succeed in mounting the slide-pair.
Virtually all stereo photo equipment today is second-hand;
no one makes them anymore, so working stereographers depend
upon used equipment. This market demand affects the pricing
as collectibles.
Prices for stereographic collectibles vary
considerably. Dealers regularly provide National Stereoscopic
association members with lists of stereo views available
through mail and phone auctions. The lists require familiarity
with the specialty. Dealers arrange their lists of “views”
by subject (historical, disaster, expositions, military),
by geographic area (Pennsylvania, New York City, etc.),
or by publisher or photographer (Keystone, Reily &
Co., G.K. Barnard, W.J. Land). Equipment shows up, too,
but with less frequency.
Keystone views are some of the most common;
that publisher mass-marketed their product with great
success. Famous people, events, and disasters warrant
good (though more exorbitant) prices.
Ignorance of the specialty may cost the
retailer/reseller profits; thousands still bring 50 cents
or less, but have asking prices well above that. For instance,
while doing research for this article, this writer met
a retailer who paid $350 for 200 stereo views; unfortunately,
no view has a value above $1 to collectors. Now the dealer
hopes to break even by selling them one at a time to on-specialists.
One the other hand, if you collect for pleasure
rather than profit – a good stereo look at pre-Castro
Cuba is fascinating – the price you pay should reflect
your satisfaction with the merchandise. Caveat emptor
prevails, but remember that everything in this life is
negotiable.
Reprint of Remember When Magazine, Collector’s
Edition, Vol. 2, Number 3, March, 1993.
Compliments of:
Jerry Ball
The Auction Gallery
7851 TANNERS LANE
Florence, KY 41042
859-282-8901
WWW.AUCTIONGALLERYONLINE.COM
THEAUCTIONGALLERY@INSIGHTBB.COM
