Early Stereo Views

Frederick Langenheim
Page from
"Photographic Views at Home and Abroad"
Salted paper prints, 1856
Prints & Photographs Division
Transfer from the Smithsonian Library (125.9)

Based in Philadelphia, Frederick Langenheim and his brother William operated America's first commercial stereo company. The firm produced both glass and paper stereographs. Their first set of paper views depicted sites in Philadelphia, New York City, and the tourist spots along the route to Niagara Falls. Before the invention of radio and television, typical middle- and upper-class families collected and viewed stereographs as entertainment using a stereoscope that brought the images together for a 3-D effect..

Additional Views:
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