Celebrity stereo cards

Celebrities have been the subjects of countless stereo cards since this medium became popular in the 1840/ 50s. It is almost impossible to pinpoint the first celebrity stereo card since celebrity status is quite often in the eye of the beholder. The earliest one I have seen is of Sir David Brewster, inventor of the hand held stereoscope, made by Moffat, of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the 1850s.

I became involved in stereography in 1975 and people have been my favorite subjects from the start. But I didn't make my first celebrity stereo card until April 1979. It is of Herbert (Digger) O'Dell, a nationally known stunt man, buried alive 10 feet underground, in Phenix City, Alabama. He was protesting high gasoline prices. The gas prices didn't come down and he came up early, after experiencing a heart problem.

The Southern Open Golf Tournament was played in Columbus, Georgia, until four years ago when it was moved to Callaway Gardens, about 30 miles away. I began attending that on a regular basis in 1979 and have made stereo cards of many golfers including Arnold Palmer, Miller Barber, Calvin Peete, Ben Crenshaw, Greg Norman, John Daly and Tom Kite.

I stereographed Tom Kite while he was being interviewed by a local TV sports announcer. After the interview Kite asked me about my Realist camera. He could not believe how quiet it is, compared to the "clang-bang" of most SLRs. He said, "We ought to make all photographers use this type camera at golf tournaments." That would certainly increase the price on old Realists and might even cause them to be manufactured again.

I think the key to making good golf stereo cards is to attend the practice rounds and the Pro-Am tournament before the regular tournament starts. The golfers are more relaxed and no one questions a camera.

Beginning in Jan. 1981 I worked nine and a half years in the nearby Fort Benning Pub-Affairs Office and worked my way up through writer, photojournalist/media escort, to editor and finally Public Information Officer. During this period I had many opportunities to make celebrity stereo cards while serving as an escort or project officer. I carried three cameras with me at all times, a SLR loaded with slide film, a SLR loaded with black and white print film and my Realist loaded with BW film. After shooting Army photographs I was usually able to shoot some stereographs for myself.

Marine Sgt. Gregory Persinger, one of the 52 Americans held hostage in Iran, while he was undergoing airborne training; Gen. (Ret) William Westmoreland, commander of U.S. Forces in Vietnam, Lt. Gen. (Ret) David E. Grange Jr, last WWII paratrooper on active duty; Maj. Gen. (Ret) Robert L. Scott, author of the WWII book God Is My Co-Pilot, Apollo XIV Astronaut Col. (Ret) Stuart Roosa and Brig. Gen. (Ret) William Ryder and MSgt (Ret) William (Red) King, the first officer and enlisted man to jump out of airplanes when the U.S. Army began airborne training in 1940, were among some of the military-related celebrities whose stereographs I made. More importantly, I had a chance to chat with most of them. Recently I added a stereo card of Gen. (Ret) Colin L. Powell to my collection when he came to Fort Benning to receive the "Doughboy Award," resented annually by Fort Benning for outstanding service to the Infantry.

News folks are always interested in military matters and the roster of those I escorted and stereographed while they were on base include CBS 60 Minutes reporter Morle Safer and NBC News reporters Garrick Utley and Fred Francis. I was able to add Andrea Mitchell, my favorite NBC news reporter, to this list when she came to Columbus with the Clinton campaign in 1992.

Some celebrity stereo cards require more efforts than others. My card of Soviet journalist/newsman Artyom Borovik represents the biggest affairs event I was involved in during my nine and a half years of civil service. He is the only known Soviet journalist to visit and observe training at Fort Benning. I was the project officer for his week-long visit and I made up a schedule which accounted for almost every minute of his working day. I escorted him through various training exercises and interviews for a total of 96 hours during his seven-day stay. He has since written a completely phoney book in which he claims he spent 30 days at Fort Benning undergoing Infantry basic training. So much for Glasnost!

Movie stars are also among my stereo card subjects. James Garner, Shirley Jones and Patty Duke starred in movies filmed at Fort Benning and I made some good stereographs of them. Ms. Duke played the part of an Army helicopter pilot and I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time as she posed for me sitting at the controls of a UH-1H helicopter.

I try to include celebrities from all walks of life in my collection. Former and now heavyweight champion boxer George Foreman, former boxing champ Floyd Patterson, baseball players Phil Niekro, Frank Thomas ( Columbus native) and Mark Lemke have recently joined my stereo card collection.

Presidential stereo cards rate high among collectors and historical researchers. Commercial presidential stereo cards were produced beginning with President Lincoln in the 1860s continuing through President Eisenhower in the 1950s. The ones of President Lincoln are eagerly sought after by collectors and when one appears on the market it always brings a high price. A Stone Mountain, Georgia, collector friend recently paid $600 for an original Lincoln stereo card and says he got a bargain.

Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife came to Columbus for a book autograph session, in 1988. I made several stereographs of them and of him by himself. Five years later they returned for another autograph session and were kind enough to autograph their cards for me. One of these cards was reproduced in the souvenir Viewmaster packet for the 1995 National Stereoscopic Association Convention in Atlanta.

Columbus seems to attract politicians. Presidential candidate Bill Clinton held a rally here in 1992 and I made several good stereographs of him and his running mate Al Gore. As a lark I put 10 of my celebrity stereo cards in the 1995 NSA Spotlight, an annual fundraiser. The one of President Clinton brought $75, a new record price for contemporary cards in that event.

Campaign 96 was especially successful for me as far as celebrity cards are concerned. Senator William Philip (Phil) Gramm opened his unsuccessful presidential campaign on the steps of Columbus' Wynnton School, where he attended as a youngster. Speaker of the House Newton Leroy (Newt) Gingrich, Senator Bob Dole and TV commentator Pat Buchanan all made the trip to out-of-the-way Columbus, and I stereographed all of them.

I want to include the arts and literature in my collection, but so far the pickings have been rather meager and limited to romance novelist Janelle Taylor, caricaturist David Levine, painter Carleton Blackwell and author Barbara Dooley.

Some celebrity cards require a different approach. Lori Martin, who went over Niagara Falls with a male companion, in a Kevlar wrapped capsule, in June 1995, worked at the Columbus Iron Works Convention Center. She had granted an interview to a local columnist, but refused other interviews and public appearances. Figuring she was a fine candidate for my collection I took a stereoscope and several of my antique Niagara Falls stereo cards depicting stunt men/women (Signorina Speltini, Blondin and Dixon) from the last century to her workplace and introduced myself and stereography to her. She was delighted to look at the old cards as she had not been aware of their existence. When I asked if I could make a stereograph of her for my collection she readily agreed and posed standing beside a small waterfall in front of the building.

I make all my celebrity stereo cards in black and white for two reasons: I like it better than color and it will definitely last longer than color. I have almost 100 images in my celebrity stereo card collection and add to it every chance I get. I am making copies of all these cards which will be sent to the Oliver Wendell Holmes Stereoscopic Research Library, located at Eastern College, St. Davids, Pennsylvania, so they will be available for future researchers.

There are probably many folks who don't agree on my choice of card subjects. That is all right, and if they really feel strongly about it I suggest they get out their stereo cameras and start shooting.

COPYRIGHT 1997 Photographic Society of America, Inc.
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