POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

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Rotoscope stereo viewer and souvenir stereo cards

Object No. 2014/137/1

These stereo cards (with viewer) were a novelty collectable included in the packaging of a selection of cigarette brands. The Museum's collection includes a variety of stereo images and viewers however the Rotoscope and its accompanying stereo images demonstrate the embrace and penetration of stereoscopy into popular culture and consumerism as a novelty collectable. The popularity of stereo images emerges in media repeatedly - the ViewMaster and its proprietary reels rode a wave of resurging interest in stereo imagery in the decades encompassing the middle of the 20th century. The use of stereo imaging in cinema (3D movies) in the 1950s faded only to resurface at the end of that century when the technology to capture and display colour stereo images was refined again. Stereo image making was very popular in the earliest years of photography. Stereo images were available in a variety of subjects - views of other cultures, exotic geography and even erotica were popular subjects for stereo photography. Sets of these types were sold to the public and enjoyed as a parlour entertainment by the growing middle class at the time. Campbell Bickerstaff, 2014

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Summary

Object Statement

Stereo viewer and stereo cards, Rotoscope, paper / metal, maker unknown, United Kingdom, c. 1910

Physical Description

Rotoscope stereo viewer and stereo cards. The Rotoscope stereo viewer was, in all likelihood, required to be purchased at a nominal extra cost to view the cards. The viewer is of a simple and cheap design in pressed tin. There is a metal tin issued by the Ardath Tobacco Company, based in London. Within the tin are forty-four (44) stereoscopic photographic cards. The cards have images of Europe, the Middel East, North America and Asia. There is also a white cardboard box used to store the objects. There are marks.

PRODUCTION

Notes

Stereo images are taken with a two lens camera, capturing the subject from points of view about 5 to 6 centimetres apart.

HISTORY

Notes

The development of stereo images emerged rapidly on the heels of ordinary photography in the mid 19th century. The popularity of stereo images emerges in media repeatedly - the viewmaster and reels saw a resurgence in the decades encompassing the mid 20th century and 3D movies and television from the 1950s to the early 20th century after the technology to capture and display these images was again refined to a commercially viable state.

SOURCE

Credit Line

Gift of Robert Dearden, 2013

Acquisition Date

26 November 2014

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