One of the reasons I got into genealogy is that I love history...american history...world history...especially family history. I also love photographic history. That is why years ago I started my collection of stereoviews.

The stereoview, or stereograph, consisted of a double set of paper prints mounted on card stock to be viewed through a stereoscope to produce a three dimensional image. They became a popular photographic medium in Europe in the mid-1800s, and through mass production methods became widely distributed in the United States by the 1880s. Stereographs reached their peak of popular distribution in the years 1902-1935 through the business efforts of such companies as the Keystone View Company and Underwood & Underwood.

Most of my stereoviews were copyrighted from the late 1800's to very early 1900's (a couple mid 1800's). I have a collection covering a wide range of categories. They include....

Children sleeping.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another thing I love to collect are Magic Lantern slides. I have a couple of Magic Lanterns dating back to the 1800's. I have a variety of slides depicting an array of topics in a variety of sizes. These early magic lanterns were commonly used in homes before photography existed. Here we are in an age of computers and digital photography and here were these families, our ancestors, sitting around watching painted glass slides for entertainment. It was not trivial or silly to them. This was special and exciting, especially for the children.

As early as the 17^th century to early 20^th century, glass slides had been projected using a Magic Lantern. The magic lantern is essentially the oldest form of slide projector. It consists of four basic parts. The first is a light proof box which holds the light source. This was originally a candle or oil lamp, but later versions made use of limelight or even carbon ard electric lamps. (My two versions used candles). At the front of the box, a condensing lens focuses the rays from the light source onto a slide. This slide carries the image to be projected and was the third part of the mechanism. The final part is a second lens, set in front of the slide, which ensures that a sharp version of the slide image appears on the screen. Screens were generally provided by sheets or white walls.

The origins of the magic lantern can be traced back to the mid-1600s, almost two hundred years before the first photographs were made. On 19 August 1666 an Englishman, Samuel Pepys, wrote in his now-famous diary, ‘Comes by agreement Mr Reeves [bringing] a lanthorn, with pictures in glasse, to make strange things to appear on the wall, very pretty.’ Pepys was so impressed by the demonstration he bought the lantern and two telescopes. On August 22 he noted settling his account for ‘the lanthorn that shows tricks.’ This must have been the earliest recorded sale of a slide projector.

From its rudimentary beginnings the lantern was steadily improved as science and technology advanced. Better lamps were made, reflectors and condenser lenses added, projection lenses became sharper and brighter, and photographic slides replaced the old hand-painted pictures.

Here are a few examples from my collection.

 

 

 

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