Collections Highlights – Stereoscope

Stereoscope

Date: 1901

A stereoscope allows the user to view a single three-dimensional image, achieved by looking at a pair of stereoscopic images through the lenses. The slight difference in perspective of the two images creates a seemingly three-dimensional image for the viewer. The Bixby family had a stereoscope in the parlor with stereograph slides of Yellowstone kept in the bookcase, as this was a form of entertainment in the early 20th century. This device, with a few stereoscoph slides, can be viewed in the Parlor.

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This stereograph features an image taken in the Spring of 1872. The photo was taken looking northwest toward the Rancho Los Cerritos adobe with the garden in foreground and Bixby family members on the veranda. By William Godfrey.

This stereograph is a souvenir from the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The image features the “Italian Section, Memorial Hall Annex.”