# Stereoscopes and viewers



## Dany (May 15, 2020)

Please find hereafter some of the stereoscopes and photo viewers from my collection
Some of them were low cost items, widely sold, and sometime simply made of cardboard.
Some others were more expensive pieces made from fine woods
I must confess that I find all of them equally interesting.

I start with two cheap cardboard stereoscopes made in France . One by Brugiere, the other one by Mattei
 Focusing is made by sliding the rear part of the body inside the front part


 

Other stereoscopes were metal made. This one looks like brass spectacles . It was sold by Richard Freres



This other one looks like binoculars (unknown maker)



Another one with a strange design, made by Mattei



This Holmes type is hand held by means of a handle at the bottom. Collectors are calling "Mexican" this type of stereoscope. I still don't know why.



Wood stereoscopes are generally more sophisticated... Well, not all of them if we consider this very simple one made from teak wood. The lever is used for focusing



Some stereoscopes were fitted with a wood door with a mirror installed in the inner face of the door. This system, when the door was opened, reflected the light for a better view of the opaque photos.



This one is technically enhanced. A knob is used to adapt the distance between the lens to the distance between user's eyes. The other knob is used for focusing. A special cut is made on the edge of the lens board for the nose of the user.



A more simple one was made by Mattey and offers only one knob for focusing.



Some viewers were fold when  unused and are called graphoscopes.
This one is very simple and cannot be used to look at stereo images:



This other one is made with blackened wood. The front shows the Inscription "Souvenir de Paris".
It has probably been sold to visitors of the Paris international exhibition in 1900.



This graphoscope allows for viewing both simple and stereo images



This last item is rare . It has been made by Papigny and Mattei and was named "stereotelescope"
It was used to see stereo images projected on screens.


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## vintagesnaps (May 15, 2020)

Wow. Aren't those cool!!


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## Tropicalmemories (May 15, 2020)

Yes - so cool!  I used to love my Viewmaster.  Spent hours looking at the Seven Wonders slides dreaming of exotic travel ..... visited many of them over the years, but surprising how few lived up to the 3D Viewmaster experience. 

But when I visit the Taj Mahal at dawn, my first thoughts were 'looks just my Viewmaster image'.


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## AlanKlein (May 15, 2020)

Which stereoscopic cameras and viewers are available today that you wold recommend to get started for someone like myself? (Digital vs. film?)

Have you tried scanning the photos and displaying them on a stereo TV and see them in stereo with those stereo glasses?  I have a Sony 75" UHD TV that displays stereo with the active stereo type glasses to wear.  There are people who put videos up on Youtube that I can watch in stereo.  There was one a guy did of a video of a boat trip down the rapids in the Grand Canyon.  It was really great.


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## webestang64 (May 15, 2020)

Those are all very nice Dany. 

Still kicking myself for not buying a Holmes type many years ago I saw at a garage sale.


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## Dany (May 16, 2020)

As a collector, I understand your feeling. My "Mexican" comes from the States and is marked Underwood & Underwood. "Sun sculpture".
Because of the aging damages, It is rather difficult, today to find these stereoscopes with the velvet protecting the visage from the edge of the instrument.


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## webestang64 (May 16, 2020)

Dany said:


> It is rather difficult, today to find these stereoscopes with the velvet protecting the visage from the edge of the instrument.



So true, I've seen a few at flea markets/antique malls over the years and none of them have had the velvet still there.


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