Object Details
- Creator
- Keystone View Company
- Maertz, J.F., Department Store (Milwaukee, Wis.).
- Photographer
- Rau, William H., 1855-1920
- Creator
- Stanley-Brown, Joseph, 1858-1941
- Compiler
- National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Culture and the Arts
- Place
- California
- Milwaukee (Wis.)
- Provenance
- Donated to the Department of Anthropology, United States National Museum by Mrs. Joseph Stanley-Brown, through Mrs. Herbert Feis, in 1943. The Division of Cultural History (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) at the National Museum of American History assembled a collection of miscellaneous lantern slides and stereographs beginning in 1943. Other collection contents were acquired over many years in unrecorded transactions. An unknown portion of the collection transferred to the Archives Center, date unknown.
- Creator
- Keystone View Company
- Maertz, J.F., Department Store (Milwaukee, Wis.).
- Photographer
- Rau, William H., 1855-1920
- Creator
- Stanley-Brown, Joseph, 1858-1941
- See more items in
- Division of Cultural History Lantern Slides and Stereographs
- Summary
- Collection consists of lantern slides and stereographs produced by several companies: Keystone View Company, Better America Lecture Service, Incorporated, American Press Association, J. Stanley-Brown, William H. Rau, and J. F. Maertz Department Store. The lantern slides were primarily intended to be used for educational presentations about the United States, other countries, history, and society. Many of the slides and stereographs are accompanied by descriptive text and in some instances by small cards--one card for each slide--and in other instances information is on the back of a stereoview. The majority of images were taken from 1900 to 1930.
- Historical
- Lantern slides are hand-drawn, painted, or photographic images on glass, intended for viewing by projection; often made in sets. Photographic lantern slides were introduced in the United States by 1850 and popular through World War I; commonly 3.25 x 4 in. (9 x 10 cm.) with a black paper mask, a cover glass, and taped edges. Thesaurus of Graphic Materials Stereographs consist of two nearly identical photographs or photomechanical prints, paired to produce the illusion of a single three-dimensional image, usually when viewed through a stereoscope. Typically, the images are on card mounts, but they take the form of daguerreotypes, glass negatives, or other processes. Stereographs were first made in the 1850s and are still made today. They were most popular between 1870 and 1920. In 1851 stereo daguerreotypes were exhibited for the first time to the general public at the London International Exhibition (Crystal Palace). Shortly thereafter, American photographers began making stereographs. One of the first American photographic firms to produce stereographs was the team of William and Frederick Langenheim. The Library owns a set of their early stereoviews of American cities on the East Coast. By 1860 both amateur photographers and publishing firms were making stereographs. The major stereo publishers sold their views by mail order, door-to-door salesmen, and in stores. Stereographs were sold individually and in boxed sets. Stereographs are usually mounted. They were typically published with caption information printed under the image or on the back of the mount. The mount also provided information about the publisher, photographer, and sometimes the series or a list of views available from the photographer or publisher. Stereographs were collected by many middle-class families in the late 19th century. People acquired stereographs of tourist sites they had visited, as well as exotic locales that they would only experience through the wonder of the stereoscope. Viewing stereographs was a common activity, much like watching television or going to the movies today. Stereoviews were also used as an education tool in classrooms. (Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Online Catalog, Stereograph Format) The Division of Cultural History at the National Museum of American History assembled a collection of miscellaneous lantern slides and stereographs beginning in 1943. Other collection contents were acquired over many years in unrecorded transactions. Several distributors and publishers of stereographic images are represented in the collection. One of the most prominent was the Keystone View Company of Meadville, Pennsylvania. Founded by Benneville Lloyd Singley (d.1938), a former Underwood & Underwood salesman, Keystone became a major distributor of stereographic images. From 1892 through 1963 it produced and distributed both educational and comic/sentimental stereoviews and stereoscopes used to see the images in 3-D. By 1905 it was the world's largest stereographic company. In 1963 Department A (stereoviews sold to individual families) and the education departments were closed, but Keystone continued to manufacture eye-training stereographic products as a subsidiary of Mast Development Company. In 1972 Mast closed the Meadville manufacturing site. All of Keystone's manufacturing was done in Meadville, but branch offices were in New York, St. Louis, San Francisco, Portland, Oregon, Chicago, Toronto, Canada and London, England. Salesmen and photographers were scattered around the world, and the company offered 20,000 different views. Selling stereoviews and lantern slides to schools was a field pioneered by Underwood & Underwood, and for several years Underwood & Underwood and Keystone were competitors for the growing educational market. According to the 1953 Keystone Sales Manual the more aggressive sales methods and the more progressive editorial policies of the Keystone View Company soon made it the acknowledged leader in the industry, and Underwood & Underwood decided to give up the contest. Between 1915 and 1921 Keystone View Company purchased the negatives of nearly all of its competitors. They also continued to have staff photographers travel the world, so that by 1935 Keystone had approximately two million stereoscopic negatives. Keystone View Company produced stereographic sets up through the mid-twentieth century, and had a stereoscopic photographer on staff until at least 1955. References Thesaurus of Graphic Materials, (2007), http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/tgm1/ (accessed February 10, 2011). Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Online Catalog, Stereograph Format, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/stereo/background.html (accessed February 14, 2011).
- Extent
- 8 Cubic feet (29 boxes)
- Date
- 1887-1930
- bulk 1900-1930
- Custodial History
- Transferred to the Archives Center by the Division of Culture and the Arts, National Museum of American History (formerly known as the Division of Cultural History, then Division of Music, Sports, and Entertainment and now Division of Cultural and Community Life), on February 13, 2008.
- Archival Repository
- Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Identifier
- NMAH.AC.0945
- Type
- Collection descriptions
- Archival materials
- Lantern slides
- Photographs
- Stereographs
- Citation
- Division of Cultural History Lantern Slides and Stereographs, dates, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Arrangement
- The collection is divided into six series. Series 1: Keystone View Company Lantern Slides and Stereographs, undated Subseries 1.1: #1-#600, undated Subseries 1.2: H-1 to H-300, undated Subseries 1.3: Biblical, undated Subseries 1.4: Santa Barbara, California, undated Subseries 1.5: Roads, undated Subseries 1.6: Miscellaneous, undated Series 2: Hillis Better America Lecture Service Lantern Slides, undated Subseries 2.1: Ability Lecture Slides, undated Subseries 2.2: Bolshevism Lecture Slides, undated Subseries 2.3: Builders Lecture Slides, undated Subseries 2.4: Equality Lecture Slides, undated Subseries 2.5: Fathers Lecture Slides, undated Subseries 2.6: General Lecture Slides, undated Subseries 2.7: Poverty Lecture Slides, undated Subseries 2.8: Property Lecture Slides (Set 1), undated Subseries 2.9: Property Lecture SSlides (Set 2), undated Subseries 2.10: Republic Lecture Slides, undated Subseries 2.11: Socialism Lecture Slides, undated Subseries 2.12: Miscellaneous Lecture Slides, undated Series 3: American Press Association Lantern Slides, undated Subseries 3.1: General Images, undated Subseries 3.2: Coffins and Soliders, undated Subseries 3.3: Mexican War, undated Subseries 3.4: Niagara Falls Conference, undated Subseries 3.5: Pancho Villa and Major Gonzales, undated Subseries 3.6: Parade, undated Subseries 3.7: Refugees, undated Subseries 3.8: Warships, undated Subseries 3.9: West Virginia Mine Explosion, undated Subseries 3.10: Women March for Votes (Suffrage), undated Series 4: J. F. Maertz Department Store Advertisement Lantern Slides, early 1920s Subseries 4.1: Bathrooms, undated Subseries 4.2: Children's shoes and clothing, undated Subseries 4.3: Dress goods, undated Subseries 4.4: Dress patterns, undated Subseries 4.5: Hosiery, undated Subseries 4.6: House furnishings, undated Subseries 4.7: House wares, undated Subseries 4.8: Ladies' Home Journal, undated Subseries 4.9: Shoes, undated Subseries 4.10: Store advertising, undated Subseries 4.11: Underwear, undated Subseries 4.12: Women's clothing, undated Subseries 4.13: Miscellaneous, undated Series 5: J. Stanley-Brown and E.H. Harriman lantern slides, undated Subseries 5.1: Alaska-California scenes, undated Subseries 5.2: Animal life, undated Subseries 5.3: Artifacts, undated Subseries 5.4: California/Franciscan life, undated Subseries 5.5: California Indians, undated Subseries 5.6: California mission exteriors, undated Subseries 5.7: California mission interiors, undated Subseries 5.8: Eskimos, undated Subseries 5.9: Franciscans, undated Subseries 5.10: Indians, undated Subseries 5.11: Landscapes, undated Subseries 5.12: Maps, undated Subseries 5.13: Mission interiors, undated Subseries 5.14: Seascapes, undated Subseries 5.15: General images (#1-7;10), undated Subseries 5.16: General images (#11-14; 16-17; 19-20), undated Subseries 5.17: General images (#21-30), undated Subseries 5.18: General images (#31-33; 36-40), undated Subseries 5.19: General images (#42; 45-50), undated Series 6: Miscellaneous Stereographs, 1887-1907 Subseries 6.1: American Series, 1887 Subseries 6.2: C.H. Graves Publisher, 1907 Subseries 6.3: Griffith and Griffith, 1894 Subseries 6.4: Pesko Binocular Company, 1907 Subseries 6.5: William H. Rau Publisher, undated Subseries 6.6: Domestic scenes, undated Subseries 6.7: Military, undated Subseries 6.8: Places-Asia, undated Subseries 6.9: Places-Cuba, undated Subseries 6.10: Places-Egypt, undated Subseries 6.11: Places-France, undated Subseries 6.12: Places-Germany, undated Subseries 6.13: Places-Italy, undated Subseries 6.14: Places-Monte Carlo, undated Subseries 6.15: Palestine, undated Subseries 6.16: Places-United States, undated Subseries 6.17: Miscellaneous, undated Series 7: Miscellaneous Lantern Slides, undated
- Processing Information
- Processed by Alison Oswald, archivist, December, 2010; David Weiss (volunteer), June, 2010; Shana Oltsman (intern) and Dexter Hobbs (intern), December, 2010. Collectyion digitized by Noah Stewart, digital imaging technician, 2024.
- Rights
- Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: reproduction fees may apply.
- Genre/Form
- Lantern slides
- Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Stereographs -- 1900-1950
- Stereographs -- 1900-1910
- Photographs -- Lantern slides -- 1900-1950
- Scope and Contents
- The collection consists of lantern slides and stereographs primarily designed for use in audio-visual educational presentations about the United States, other countries, history, and society. Many of the slides and stereographs are accompanied by descriptive text. In some instances on small cards--one card for each slide-- and in other instances printed directly on the back of a stereoview. A few of the lantern slides, particularly the ones of the J. F. Maertz Department Store of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, are advertisements for consumer products. The majority were taken from 1890 through 1930. While the collection as a whole is in good general condition, some lantern slides, stereographs, and text cards are missing, and some of the lantern slides are cracked. The collection will appeal to researchers examining the course of nineteenth-century social history broadly, especially how lantern slides were marketed to educators to teach geography, social studies, science, history and reading. The lantern slides as artifacts will be of interest to those who study material culture.
- Restrictions
- Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected lantern slides and stereographs must be handled with gloves.
- Record ID
- ebl-1503510219328-1503510219350-0
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