Name/Title
Myriopticon (Stereoscope)Context
In the Upstairs Exhibit Room of the Neill-Cochran House Museum are two pairs of stereoscopes, dated between 1900 and 1930. These wood and metal devices are a bit like today’s 3D glasses: they would have been used to view separate left and right images together as one view.
Stereographs allowed viewers to play adventurers or tourists from home, watching scenes of faraway landmarks and the lives of people abroad. In 1861, Oliver Wendell Holmes created this type of stereoscope, called a Holmes stereoscope. Holmes stereoscopes were handheld and more economical than earlier models. By the 20th century, stereographs were a popular form of photography. Many of these images are from the Keystone View Company, which was offering over 20,000 views by 1905.
The photographic stereoscopic view became a popular tourist keepsake and parlor accoutrement in the last quarter of the 19th-century in three-dimensional imagery of exotic locales. Those lucky enough to travel to places like Yosemite in California, or Egypt, brought home stereoscopic views as souvenirs. Others purchased exotic views from catalogues or photographic studios.Acquisition
Accession
nd.117Source or Donor
UnknownAcquisition Method
Gift