Why make stereo cards

Why would anyone want to make stereo cards? This question was asked me, apparently in all seriousness, by a man during the National Stereoscopic Association's Convention in Milwaukee last June. I wanted to tell him to get a legal-size pad, number the pages, and use them to start making a list. But then I decided to cover just a few of the reasons why I, and many others, like to make stereo cards.

First of all, the longevity of stereo cards means that the images you make will be with us for a long time. This translates into preservation of our stereoscopic history. My acquaintance mentioned that he had some stereo slides that he had made "way back" in the 1960's and some of them were still pretty good. I showed him a copy of NSA's magazine Stereo World that was lying on a nearby table. The back cover was half of a stereo card that I had used to illustrate an article I wrote for the magazine. The stereo card was made in Germany in 1862 and still has excellent images.

Of course when I say stereo cards last a long time, I mean properly processed and mounted black-and-white images. Those stereo card makers who work in color have about the same longevity problem, maybe even worse, as stereo slide makers. I always advise them that if they have a color stereo card they really like and want to preserve for future generations, they should have it printed in black and white.

Those stereo card makers belonging to the Stereoscopic Society of America, which celebrated its centennial in 1993, are still enjoying stereo cards made by long-departed members in the 1920's, 30's, and 40's. These are rotated through the postal folios as "Encores."

In retrospect, I think it is rather sad that PSA did not have a stereo card group in the early days of the organization. Then some of the pre-1952 (when the PSA Stereo Division started) Society stereo history could have been preserved. But, according to Stereo Division Historian and Curator Ron Fredrickson, there had never been a stereo card group in PSA prior to the one which began in 1993.

Secondly, there is a great deal of satisfaction in making a well-crafted stereo card. Many choices are available to the maker as to size, from the standard 3 1/2 X 7 inches to artistic 4 X 7, deluxe 4 1/2 X 7 or the 5 X 7 imperial. Card stock can vary from heavy to light with your choice of color. Mounts can have square corners, replicating the pre-1870 stereo cards or they can have the corners rounded to imitate the cards made from about 1870 until the 1940's. Most current card makers favor flat mounts, but at least one current maker has devised a method to curve his card mounts so they look like the "warped mounts" whose popularity started about 1879 and lasted until commercial stereo card production stopped in the late 1940's.

Either black-and-white or color images can be used, your choice. Also, there are several stereographers who have the best of both worlds by hand tinting their black-and-white stereo images and producing some real gems.

The proper mounting of stereo prints is too vast a subject to fully cover in this short article, but correct mounting is a necessity for proper and comfortable viewing. Here are some suggestions for getting started:

1. Using a commercial stereo mask simplifies the process. With the directions available with the fold-over mounts, you can position your commercially-processed prints in the completed frame.

2. Some processors will custom print your stereo pairs on one piece of print paper.

3. Some makers mount left and right images touching each other, while other makers leave a space (gutter) between the two images. Either is acceptable.

4. Pick a good archival adhesive (not rubber cement or common adhesive tapes).

5. Smaller images are easier to free view.

A nice attractive label on the reverse of the stereo card adds to the viewer's enjoyment. Many makers use art deco designs or computer graphics on their labels. I personalize mine by using copies of pictures of things important in my life and which may or may not tie in with the subject on the front of the card such as aircraft, military scenes, cameras, sports, pets and other family pictures, to name a few.

One big advantage of stereo cards over stereo slides is the amount of space on the label to put all sorts of information. Among these are exposure data, date, identification of all recognizable people (if feasible), and enough general information to help the viewer understand what they are seeing. Many makers add their own social/political/economic comments on the labels. By making a good, complete label you will help to eliminate an "Unknown" for future generations. It is pretty disturbing to pick up a 100-year-old stereo card with no label or identification on the front or back. This always makes you wonder what, where, and when, as a minimum.

Next, stereo cards are very "user friendly." No batteries are required to use a card stereoscope, just a bit of light over the shoulder. If you want to point out an object on a stereo card to someone, you can point to it while the viewing is taking place. Stereo cards can take a lot more abuse and rough handling than stereo slides (see longevity above). Fingerprints don't present a major problem as they can be wiped off, as opposed to the worry that they will eat into the emulsion of a slide. If a card becomes damaged or shopworn it is easily replaced, since you have the original negative. In fact, it has been my experience that the second version of a card usually turns out better than the first, as various improvements in printing, mounting, and labeling can be made.

My acquaintance said he could take a handful of slides and a viewer with him wherever he went and he didn't think this was practical with stereo cards, as a stereoscope is needed to view them. This isn't really a problem as there are several pocket-size lorgnette viewers which afford adequate viewing for standard-size stereo cards. Family photo albums are kept by many of us and like so many other grandfathers I have albums for my three grand-sons. They have been raised with stereo scopes and my black-and-white stereo cards and their albums contain many unmounted stereo pairs of their childhood activities. All of the albums have a lorgnette viewer in an envelope inside the back cover. A fairly recent addition (20 years) to the use of stereo cards is the exchange of stereo Christmas cards.

I realize that slide makers can have prints made from their slides, but it gets a little involved and not all processors offer this service.

Lastly, we talked about subject matter of stereo cards versus stereo slides. Most subjects can be covered equally well in either medium, but one area in which the stereo card is far superior is in making "Then and Now" pairs, one of my favorite stereo endeavors. There were about eight million stereo cards produced between 1854 and 1940, according to William C. Darrah, author of The World of Stereographs, and countless numbers of these cards are still available. It is a most rewarding challenge to find a 100 to 130-year-old stereo card (a Then), go to the area depicted, try to locate the exact spot where the other stereographer stood when he exposed the images on the card, and shoot the same scene again (a Now). The old cameras usually had wider angle lenses than our current stereo cameras and it is almost impossible to get the same coverage in the Now, but you can come close and the results are both entertaining and educational.

My special area of interest in both history and stereo cards is northern Germany and southern Denmark. I have two cards from the 1863-64 war when Prussia and Schleswig-Holstein fought against Denmark, and I have been able to make good Then and Now pairs with them. I also have several cards made in Flensburg between 1862-1868, for which I've been able to make Then and Nows. I feel sure that there have been some Then and Nows made with slides, but I have never seen such a pair.

All forms of stereoscopy are a lot of fun and very rewarding, or else we wouldn't be spending so much time and money on them. I hope that many of you try your hand at making stereo cards, and remember, the PSA Stereo Card Circuit welcomes new members!

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