Stereoviews

A hold it photo (people holding something) for the Vintage Photos Theme Park . Caption: "By durn, Samenthy, this beats the old pump all holler. Push jest a leetle harder and she'll be here." Sign on wall: "Hotel Astorf-Waldoria. Ring once for bell boy, twice [for] ice water, three [times for] hot water." Name on trunk: "Silas Green, Wayback, O." Printed along the sides: "The 'Perfec' Stereograph. (Trade mark.) Patented April 14, 1903. Other patents pending. H. C. White Co., Publishers. General offices and works, North Bennington, Vt., U.S.A. Copyright 1903 by H. C. White Co. 5587 (2)." This comic stereoscopic card (see the full card below) shows two country bumpkins who are visting the city and staying at the highfalutin Hotel Astorf-Waldoria (a thinly veiled reference, of course, to the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City). Unfamiliar with big-city ways and new-fangled technology, Samantha (or "Samenthy," as her husband Silas pronounces it) is pushing the call button (normally used to summon hotel staff) while Silas holds a water pitcher below the mouthpiece of the wall-mounted telephone. In their naivety, Samantha and Silas have misunderstood the sign ("Ring twice for ice water") and have mistaken the phone for a pump that will provide water once the button is pushed. In 1903, at a time when indoor plumbing and telephones were less common in rural areas, viewers of this stereographic photo could laugh at the silly antics of this foolish backwoods couple from Wayback, Ohio. Looking at the image a hundred years later, we can catch a glimpse of the different styles of clothing, wallpaper, carpet, and furniture that were popular back then, and we can also consider how the modern technology that we take for granted today--faucets with running water and mobile phones--has made the humor here obsolete.

A comic stereoscopic card. For additional information, see Silas and Samantha at the Astorf-Waldoria, 1903 .

These stereographic cards are in poor shape even after some touch-up, but they're intriguing--and almost macabre--for their depiction of the perils of fireworks. Captions: "The Glorious 4th of July. No. 1." "The Fifth of July. No. 2." Printed on the front: "American and Foreign Views. Sold only by canvassers. New Educational Series. Stereoscopic views."

A trick or treat photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Although my copy of this stereoscopic card doesn't include any publication information, versions posted on Flickr are titled "The Haunted Lovers" and were published by Littleton View Company in 1893 (see Photo_History's The Haunted Lovers Stereo Card and depthandtime's The Haunted Lovers ). For the full stereoview card, see The Haunted Lovers (Stereoscopic Card) :

For information about this stereoscopic card, see The Haunted Lovers :

A vintage science and/or cat's eye glasses photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Surgeons at a French field hospital during the First World War use an x-ray machine --"the latest and most complete scientific device for saving life," according to the description on the back of this stereographic card--to locate and remove a bullet from a wounded soldier. This image was first published by the Keystone View Company as part of a set of war stereogaphs issued in 1917-18. See below for the full Locating Bullet with X-ray Machine stereoview card. For additional information regarding the Keystone View Company's World War I stereographic sets, see the The World War through the Stereoscope , a digital collection from the Library of Congress. 18608 - French Field Hospital - Locating Bullet with X-Ray Machine Excerpt from the description on the back of the card: Before us surgeons are using the x-ray to locate the bullet in a wounded soldier. His life depends upon finding it promptly and with little probing. For this the x-ray is invaluable--it projects a shadow of the bullet in the wound. As a further aid in locating the bullet, a mechanism working on the plan of a telephone is used. One end of the circuit is attached to a bell and the other end is fastened to a sliver thread attached to the probe. When the probe touches the bullet the bell rings. Many lives have been saved by this invention, which enables the surgeon to locate the bullet quickly and to extract it through a small orifice. Notice the tube at the surgeon's ear, leading to the bell on the x-ray apparatus, so that he can hear instantly hear the first faint vibration. Observe the wire bringing the current from the ambulance. We have before us no crude emergency outfit, but the latest and most complete scientific device for saving life.

For information about this stereoscopic card, see Locating a Bullet with an X-ray Machine, French Field Hospital, World War I :

Like Ellie, I thought I'd add an extra photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park monthly topic of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, or any other similar holiday celebration (submit a photo on this topic each week in addition to—or instead of—a photo for the weekly topic) . From a stereographic card captioned, "Christmas Morning—Saying Grace," which was published in 1901 by Geo. W. Griffith, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Six little girls are sitting around a table with their hands folded as they say grace. Are they really having breakfast on Christmas morn, or could it be a pretend tea party? There's a doll sitting on a rocking chair at the head of the table, and two more dolls are lying on a small bed at the other end of the table (in the lower right-hand corner of the photo). Other toys, including a drum and a horse pull toy, are visible on the floor between the two girls on this side of the table. Take a look at the variety of ornaments and decorations on the Christmas tree in the background. Among them are two small U.S. flags, and there's a larger flag on the right-hand side of the tree. For the full card, see Christmas Morning—Saying Grace (Stereographic Card) . This was one in a series of stereographic cards with similar scenes of Christmas. For another in the series, see After the Joys of Christmas Day , which is available on the J. Paul Getty Museum web site. Text printed on the card: 2119. Christmas Morning—Saying Grace. Geo. W. Griffith, publisher. Philadelphia, Pa. Sold only by Griffith & Griffith. Philadelphia. Chicago. London. Hamburg, Ger. Milan, Italy.

For more information about this stereographic card, see Christmas Morning—Saying Grace, 1901 . 2119. Christmas Morning—Saying Grace. Geo. W. Griffith, publisher. Philadelphia, Pa. Sold only by Griffith & Griffith. Philadelphia. Chicago. London. Hamburg, Ger. Milan, Italy.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of Watch the skies!—UFOs, airplanes, birds, clouds, or anything else that might be up there . "16645 Morehouse's Comet, Yerkes Observatory." A stereograph of Morehouse's Comet , or Comet Morehouse, which Wikipedia describes as "a bright, non-periodic comet discovered by US astronomer Daniel Walter Morehouse and first observed on September 1, 1908." This stereo card was one in a series of images of the sun, the moon, planets, meteors, and comets published by the Keystone View Company in Meadville, Pennsylvania. For an interesting discussion of these photos, see Carmen Pérez Gonzalez, " From the Observatory to the Classroom: Space Images in the Keystone “600 SET” and “1200 SET ,” International Journal on Stereo & Immersive Media , vol. 1, no. 1 (Oct. 2017): 40-62. See also the text on the back of the stereograph .

The description on the reverse of the Morehouse's Comet stereograph published by the Keystone View Company.