Answer: Photographers

According to William Darrah, author of Stereo Views: A History of Stereographs in America and Their Collection, the credit for producing some of the first stereoscopes locally actually goes to William and Frederick Langenheim, two brothers from Germany. Stereocopes, which go by many names including stereographs, stereoviews, and stereo cards, were conceived of as early as the birth of photographs in the 1830s, but it would be a couple decades before the techniques for manufacturing them were perfected. A stereoscope differs from other types of photographs in that it features two images of the same view taken at slightly different angles, which are then placed side by side either between glass or on a rectagular card. Placing the glass slide or card in a specially-made viewer enabled users to see the image in three dimensions.

The Langenheims arrived in Philadelphia in 1840 where they set up a photography studio. Some time in the mid 1850s, they began making stereographs as the “American Stereoscopic Company.” They first specialized in glass stereoscopes featured scenic views, but they eventually moved into the production of paper cards. The duo produced stereoscopes in Philadelphia between about 1855 and 1865. After that, the brothers reorganized and set up shop in New York City.

In HSP’s library are two seminal works on stereographs by a 19th-century biologist-cum-photographer, William Culp Darrah of Reading, Pennsylvania: Stereo Views: A History of Stereographs in America and Their Collection (call number Dc.85605 D252S) and The World of Stereographs (call number REF TR 780.D35 1977). Additional collections include the Weston and Mary Naef stereoview collection (#V47) and the Stuart B. Main stereoview collection (#V54).