The San Francisco Earthquake, Tinted

The devastation of the great San Francisco Earthquake, on this day in 1906, is extensively photographically documented. There are thousands of monochrome photographs, some of which I've shared before, printed in newspapers or mass-produced as postcards. There are even a few true colour photographs, made with a rare early process. 

The images in this post are stereoviews of post-earthquake scenes, photographs translated into low-quality half-tones, and then hand-tinted for commercial sale. I find them fascinating as an insight into the desires of early 20th century consumers of photography--even in documentary photographs, and even for photographs of a tragedy, applied colour was a selling point. 

New York Public Library

Workmen taking down unstable walls. Source

New York Public Library

A cracked Van Ness Avenue. Source

New York Public Library

The wrecked synagogue, Powell and Sutter Streets. Source

Victorian Fun at the Beach

It's always delightful to come across photographs of nineteenth-century people having fun. We're so used to the image of the stern, still Victorians that as soon as you see them relaxed and smiling, they almost stop seeming like Victorians. Suddenly they look like they could be people we know, just in costume, and the gap between 2014 and 1894 seems suddenly a lot less. 

These stereographs, from the Atlantic City beach in the 1890s, have quite a bit of that wonderful "just people in costume" feel. 

New York Public Library

1894. Source

New York Public Library

1890. Source

The crowd shots are especially good when you use the NYPL's zoom-in feature: 

Magic Splendour of Electric Blaze

A variety of terrific sterographs depicting the illuminations at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, published bey several different stereo companies. Like the buildings created for the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, the St. Louis Fair's buildings were not designed to last more than a year or two. All but one of these buildings were demolished shortly after the event ended.

By the way, if you can free-view (look at stereos the right way to get the 3-D effect without a viewer) or would like to try (it's like magic eye)-- these really are just incredible in stereo. 

Library of Congress

The Festival Hall. Source

Library of Congress

Another view of the Festival Hall. Source

Library of Congress

Palaces of Electricity and Machinery. Source

Stereo Daguerreotypes

As you might know, sterograph cards were a hugely popular thing in the later 19th and early 20th centuries. These cards use two photographs taken from slightly different angles to produce a single image with a 3-d appearance, when viewed through a viewer (or by someone who is good at Magic Eye). However, the concept of stereo photographs was around from the very beginning. Daguerreotypes are quite interesting to view in stereo-- they are a) very very detailed, so the 3-D effect is especially profound, and b) essentially on mirrors, so extra work is needed to get a proper view. Some places, such as the studio of Southworth and Hawes, created whole installations where daguerreotypes could be viewed in stereo. In the mid 1850s J. F. Mascher invented a special type of daguerreotype case that could be folded out into a viewer (though, speaking from experience, it still takes a bit of fiddling to get the right angle of light). These days, the 3-D stereo effect is also often hard to get due to deterioration; one side may be more tarnish or dirty than the other, ruining the effect. Still though, they look neat!

(By the way, one of the most common uses of the stereo daguerreotype was for pornography. Unfortunately I've yet to find a public collection with any of these online... but thought you'd like to know!)

Library of Congress

Portrait of an unidentified woman. Source

Harvard University, Houghton Library

Tinted portrait of an unidentified man. Source

Library of Congress

Bust of William Robert Grant. Source

Stereographs of Christmas

Stereographs were the mass entertainment of their day, so it is little surprise that, like mass entertainment today, they hopped on the Christmas bandwagon this time of year (though their Santa was a bit thinner than ours!).

New York Public Library

H. Spears Christmas tree with toys, 1873. Source

New York Public Library

Toys set up in a Christmas-decorated room. Source

Library of Congress

"Something for all, I have something for all." c. 1897. Source

Stereographs of Love

Another romance-themed post, this time through the eyes (or stereoviewer) of the Edwardians. Like the postcards, these stereographs are highly posed, though even more sentimental. Some are rather cute and a couple are even quite risque for the time (though still far from the outright sexuality of these 1920s stereographs). Unfortunately these reproductions from the Library of Congress only show half of the stereograph, losing the effect. Nor are they the best quality, being fairly old, black and white copy negatives. Still, pretty fun!

Mostly published 1906, unless otherwise noted. 

Library of Congress

"Sovereigns of love's domain." Source

Library of Congress

"He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not." Source

Library of Congress

"By the old tree." Source

California by Stereograph

A stereograph, for those who don't know, is two images (usually photographs, but not always) taken and printed a certain distance apart so that, when viewed though a proper viewer, they combine to create one, 3-D-looking image (a demonstration here). These were insanely popular throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, with hundreds of thousands of views created. 

These particular stereos are by Carleton Watkins, who travelled west with railroad companies to create a visual record and share images of the still-new (to white Americans) country. These images c. 1879. 

By the way, if you don't have a stereo viewer on you, it is possible to get the effect without one, by unfocusing and refocusing your eyes in the same way as a Magic Eye. Though I'm  not to blame for any headaches created in this attempt!

From the Library of Congress. 

Library of Congress

El Capitan mirror view, Yosemite. Source

Library of Congress

The Yosemite Falls. Source

Library of Congress

Cathedral spires, Yosemite. Source