Lehr collection of stereoviews

Stereoview photographs (also called stereographs) are two photographs taken of the same view from slightly different angles, then mounted side by side onto cards; when the images are viewed with a special viewer, they appear as one, seemingly three-dimensional image. Stereographs were produced continuously during the years 1851-1940, enjoying varying degrees of popularity during that period.

The phenomenon was discovered in the early years of photography, and stereoview photographs were produced commercially by the 1850s, along with the instruments for viewing the images, known as stereoscopes. One stereoscope, a hand-held model which became very popular, was designed by Oliver Wendell Holmes at the end of the 1850s. There were also box-type viewers which sat on a table, and models which could hold several hundred views, using a belt to move the cards through. Stereoscopes and views were often sold by opticians, such as Franklin and Co. at 217 W. Baltimore St., where both were available.

Oliver Wendell Holmes was a stereoview enthusiast, calling at one point for the establishment of stereoview libraries, and coining the term "stereograph". He said, "With the Stereoscope by our fireside on a winter’s evening, we can walk through the sunny vineyards of Italy; from our arm-chair look down upon Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. We can wander through the cities of foreign lands, look upon their wonders of architecture". While such exotic subjects were popular, people were also interested in the places and events in their own regions, and in events of national significance such as wars, disasters, and international exhibitions. Other types of views were those with elaborate theatrical tableaus depicting comical or sentimental subjects.