THEN AND NOW Stereo Card Sets - produce stereoscopic photographs - Brief Article

How would you like to have your own "Time Machine" and be able to switch back and forth from this time frame to the past? Constructing such a machine is impossible, but by making Then and Now (T & N) stereo card sets you can achieve a somewhat similar effect and there are "no batteries required."

There were approximately 8 million stereo cards produced worldwide during the heyday of stereo, according to William C. Darrah in his book The Worm of Stereographs. Stereographers plied their trade in most major cities and many small towns and villages. They left a valuable historical legacy for us to view and use.

These historical stereo cards are the basis for many T & N stereo card sets. To simplify things I put these cards in two categories--antique scenics and antique action (You are welcome to make your own categories). To get started you need to find a card depicting a scene or an action that you can stereograph.

The antique scenic, as in the stereo card of Edinburgh's Princess Street, made by B. W. Kilburn in 1891 (Figure 1), is the easiest to use to make a T & N set since many scenes depicted haven't changed that much over the years. When you arrive at the scene you want to stereograph, look it over carefully to see if you can match the same angle as the previous stereographer. Look through the camera viewfinder and move around until you see about the same subject matter. Often it is impossible to duplicate the same angle, or to include exactly the same subject material, due to differences in equipment, but do the best you can.

[Figure 1 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Sometimes it seems like you can almost find the tripod holes left by the previous stereographer. When this happens you have a most successful Now stereo card, as shown by the stereo card I made of Princess Street in 1992 (Figure 2). Notice the differences: the clothing, the lighting system, etc. The effect of a T & N is readily seen.

[Figure 2 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The antique action T & N sets are also fun to make and view, although it is hard to precisely match the action. The "Then" I used is a World War I Keystone gas mask drill stereo card made in France (Figure 3). These soldiers faced the definite possibility of being gassed in combat. I was fortunate to be able to stereograph Infantry Basic Training at Fort Benning, Georgia, and attended a gas mask drill that resulted in the "Now" (Figure 4) for this set. The only tribulations these soldiers faced was the Drill Sergeant's getting on their case if they were slow, plus the possibility of the mask leaking when they went into the gas chamber.

[Figure 3-4 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Modern T & Ns are another category and these could very well end up with historical value. All that is necessary is to stereograph a scene like the Gertrude "Ma" Rainey house (Figure 5) in Columbus, Georgia, and after an interval of time stereograph the same scene again (Figure 6). Modern T & N can be made almost anywhere providing there was some change in the scene.

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Some T & Ns require a little bit more imagination. I made a stereograph of The Old Mill, in North Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1994. This mill is shown in the movie Gone With the Wind and is the only building from the movie still in existence. So I had a Now, and needed a Then to go with it to complete the set. I taped the movie to find out where The Old Mill appears in it. It is shown for about six seconds during the screen credits, at the beginning of the movie.

I set up my stereo camera, on a tripod, in front of the TV set, put several small items on top of the TV to add some depth, and stereographed the television with The Old Mill showing on the screen. My Now angle is not quite the same as the Then, but the difference of 55 years between the two stereographs is readily apparent, and I think I have a successful T & N set.

Many stereo card makers are also collectors and go through their collections to search out possible T & N subjects before departing on trips. Additionally, many of us loan our stereo cards to those visiting far away places so they can make T & N sets. I have helped create T & N sets from Thailand and Germany by this method.

I work in black and white but the same effect (improved, some say) can be achieved with color stereo cards.

So, if your stereo activities have become a little humdrum and you need something to get the creative juices flowing again, create your own time machine by making Then and Now stereo card sets.

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