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Posted By: hankron

I watched the 1940s movie 'Portrait of Dorian Gray' and one of the guys in there was sitting on a was looking at stereoviews through the viewer. At the time, most people would could only dream of visiting Niagra Falls or the Tower of London, or meeting the Queen or President, so being able to them in 3-d at home was a thrill. Stereoviews was a form of home entertainment.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, a stereoew has two photos (as you can see from above) mounted on a piece of cardbaord. The photos were photographed with the same camera, but each photo is at a slightly different angle. When viewed through a special handheld viewer, the image appears in 3-D. You can find the antique viewers at antique stores and on eBay.

Lastly, you will see several different names for the photos-- stereoviews, stereograph, stereoscopic. They are all names for the same thing. I say stereoview, but that's nothing more than personal habit.