What fun it has been to inherit a collection of stereoview photo cards and the once popular Holmes Stereoscope Viewer. The photos (ca. 1890s-1900s) are mounted on thick cardboard in duplicate in order to give a 3-D effect when viewed in the stereoscope, but of course I can't show that here. What I DO hope to show is a glimpse into a brief period of history when families sat around at home being entertained by this fun pastime in place of television and radio. Think of the stereoscope viewer as the "ViewMaster" and 3-D glasses of their time.Some photos in the collection are of travel destinations, while others are simply small snapshots of day to day life. Another set pokes fun at life in what appears to be skits in a vaudeville show. They are the most entertaining of the collection. My mother viewed these in the 1920s and 30s and recalls taking turns with her four siblings under her mother's watchful eye.
Two final cards are missing in the following set, which I have labeled the "Apprentice Bags the Painter," but you can fill in the blanks. I hope the apprentice got what he deserved!
"The Industrious Painter and the Idle Apprentice."
"Now I will just drop this paper bag over his head."
"See him, will you? He can't set his board down and
he can't get his new cap off."
"Just by putting the broomstick between his
legs as he starts off". . .
Click here for list of Stereoviews in collection
Copyright 2013 © Sharon Himsl
[Gravseth family archive; 1906, Herman Knutzen]
Sharon M. Himsl
Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011.
Published with Evernight Teen:
~~The Shells of Mersing
