Sharon M. Himsl - Shells, Tales and Sails

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Flocking Together at the Beach: Stereoviews A-Z

This photo is a bit of a puzzle. Most of the children are wearing shorts, except for a few in yellow robes. Online, the same photo shows eight wearing robes, four in pink and four in blue. I pulled out my magnifying glass, and from what I can tell, they are all boys.

"Brighton Beach" (New York) (pre-1910)

History shows that Russian immigrants settled in Brighton Beach prior to 1910. It explains why many residents today speak Russian. Jewish holocaust survivors also settled there after World War II (estimated at 55,000), as well as Non-Jewish immigrants because of the Russian language (Armenians and Georgians). The ethnicity of Brighton Beach probably explains the children in yellow robes, but I have no idea which immigrant group they represent. Do you?

[Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighton_Beach]

[Gravseth family archive; American and foreign views, pre-1910]

Friday, April 5, 2013

Eerie Sponges: Stereoviews A-Z

Eerie. These sponges remind me of the old horror movie, The Blob. Movie previews showed people running out of a theater, screaming for their lives, chased by a giant glob of goo. (Hmm....the crowd in front might want to think about moving).

There were two Blob movies made, the first in 1958 and a remake in 1988. I don't remember seeing either, just the previews. The 1958 movie trailer can still be found online.

Sponge Market, Key West, Florida (ca. 1890s)

I have never seen sponge harvested nor been to a sponge market. Sponge was first commercially harvested in Key West in the 1850s. The market and profits grew at a phenomenal rate, and by 1890, Key West was the sponge capital of the world. At the turn of the century, there were 350 boats harvesting sponge according to records. However, profits and yields lasted only a short time. Fungus destroyed the sponge beds and cheaper synthetic sponges became available. Today the sponge beds are slowly growing back.

[Source: http://florida-agriculture.com/consumers/recreation/waterfront/keywest.html];

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011.
Published with Evernight Teen:
~~The Shells of Mersing

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Desperate Times: Stereoviews A-Z

In 1906, it was estimated that 500,000 homeless in the U.S. were hopping trains and living on the streets, which was around 0.6% of the population. By 1911, the numbers had grown to 700,000.

This is before Emmett Kelly's time, although the circus clown shown in this photo made me think of the tramp (Weary Willie) that Kelly made famous during the Great Depression in the 1930s.

The dialog is not my own (on any in the collection). You can barely see the faded dialog on the bottom right, but every stereoview in the collection has a label with dialogue or description. I had to use a magnifying glass!

"Why don't dese dudes ride chainless bikes?"

(ca. pre-1910)

Hmm . . . why not take the horse?

Copyright 2013 © Sharon Himsl; Gravseth family archive
[source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Kelly; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobo]

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011.
Published with Evernight Teen:
~~The Shells of Mersing

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Chumps on the Street: Stereoviews A-Z

Social reformer and physician Ben Reitman was quoted in 1875 as describing the unemployed homeless this way: "A tramp is a man who doesn't work, who apparently doesn't want to work, who lives without working and who is constantly traveling. A hobo is a non-skilled, non-employed laborer without money, looking for work. A bum is a man who hangs around a low class saloon and begs or earns a few pennies a day in order to drink. He is usually an inebriate."

So are these hobos, tramps or bums? Chumps for sure, as they do appear to be foolish. Photographer Herman Knutzen honed in on the comical side of being homeless and drunk in this 1906 set of photos. And since they are 'loveable' drunks, they are rather funny. But I'm not sure if we would laugh at this today, or maybe it's just me. I live in a community under 24,000 and never see this kind of thing. What do you think?

"Ah, here is where those bums get what is coming to them."

"You big lobster, what did you hit me for?"

"Now we will give the other one a dose of the
same medicine for that tired feeling."

"You hit me first."...."I didn't."...."You did."....You are a***!!!"

"Biff--Bang--Bing. Call me a liar, will you?"

"You kids come out here and we'll wake you up, too."

Source: http://www.mandymnewman.com/2012/05/american-hobo_3202.html

Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums, Tom Lutz, p. 162

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011.
Published with Evernight Teen:
~~The Shells of Mersing

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Brief History of the Stereoscope: Stereoviews A-Z

The Stereoscope is a special device used to view photos in 3-D. It was a popular form of entertainment in the U.S. from the 1840s to the 1930s, and also used as a teaching tool in classrooms for learning geography, natural history, world events and a wide variety of topics.

The invention was based on English scientist Charles Wheatstone’s research on binocular vision in the 1830s, and predates early photography. Wheatstone experimented with

Holmes Stereoscope

sketched drawings, but as knowledge of photography developed in the 1840s, the technique was applied to photos. The images were called stereographs (or stereograms) in the beginning, and later known as stereoviews.

Here is how the stereoscope works. Two identical photos, arranged side by side on card stock, are viewed through the stereoscope as two and half inches apart (or the distance between the eyes) through the viewer's lense/mirror hooded assembly (on left in picture). The eye sees a 3-D image.

It was not until the Great Exhibition in 1851 that stereoscopes and stereoviews became known to the general public. Queen Victoria in England was fascinated with the invention, and influenced its mass production. One company, the London Stereoscopic Company, sold half a million stereoviews between 1854 and 1856.

In the U.S., author and physician Oliver Wendell Holmes invented a hand-held stereoscope viewer in 1861 that was more economical. With further improvements by Joseph L. Bates (a Boston merchant), the Holmes viewer was soon a common item in Victorian homes all across America.

The stereoscope lost its appeal in the 1930s with the advent of silent film and radio. In the 1950s, it made a comeback with the ViewMaster, a type of stereoscope for children that can still be purchased in stores. And of course . . . there are 3-D movies and television today.

Interesting information for collectors:

http://taggart.glg.msu.edu/stereo/holmes.htm (how to make modern stereoviews)
http://www.stereoworld.org/index.php (National Stereoscope Association; publications, worldwide organizations, and information on workshops and conventions)

Other Sources:

http://cnx.org/content/m13784/latest/
http://www.stereoviewmadness.com/stereoviewmadness.com/The_Stereoview.html
http://home.centurytel.net/s3dcor/index.html
http://yellowstonestereoviews.com/publishers/neweducational.html

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011.
Published with Evernight Teen:
~~The Shells of Mersing

Monday, April 1, 2013

Apprentice Bags the Painter: Stereoviews A-Z

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!