Archives West Finding Aid

French tissue stereocard techniques were developed by J.L. Tardieu in 1853. Tissue stereocards consist of a print on translucent paper mounted on a card cut to frame the print and often with a tissue added . The image could be tinted and the tint visible when lit from behind as a transparency. The tissue format of stereocards were available commercially by 1855. The largest amount of tissue stereocards were produced between 1858 and 1875. Many tissue stereocard producers are still unidentified. Many are marked only by initials such as these which are marked B.K. Photos and J.M.

E. & H.T. Anthony & Company was the largest manufacturer of photography supplies in the latter part of the nineteenth century, operating a photo publishing division as well. The company remained in a position of prominence from its incorporation in 1862 to 1902, when it was absorbed into the Scovill and Adams Company following the deaths of the Anthony brothers.

George Barker (1844-1894) was born in Ontario, Canada, and first traveled to Niagara Falls in 1862. There, he found a job working for photographer Platt D. Babbitt. Barker opened his own studio in Niagara Falls and became well-know for his sterographic prints of the falls.

Alfred S. Campbell was an important American stereograph company based in Elizabeth, N.J. from 1893 to 1904.

James Cremer (1821-1893) opened a portrait studio in Philadelphia in 1860, where he also sold stereoviews. By 1872 he was the largest publisher of stereoviews in the city, and among the largest in the country.In 1882 he sold the stereoview business to John Wanamaker & Co. and retired to Brooklyn, New York.

The European and American views were produced from pirated images in the 1870s-1880s. They used photographs from various photographers including E. & H. T. Anthony, Alfred S. Campbell and John Soule.

Byron H. Gurnsey operated a photography studio in Colorado Springs, Colorado, from 1872 until his death in 1880.

Thomas Houseworth was a notable California photographer. He took over Lawrence & Houseworth in 1867.

T.W. Ingersoll was based in St. Paul, Minnesota. He released series of stereographs of Yellowstone Park containing around 300 views and hundreds more views from the West.

William Henry Jackson was a prolific nineteenth-century photographer and painter known for his renderings of architecture, landscapes, and American Indians. Later in his career he operated a photography studio, from which these stereographs come.

Benjamin West Kilburn was known for his stereoscopes and photographs of national parks and early American and Canadian scenery. Benjamin and his brother, Edward, made up Kilburn Brothers around 1865 and although Edward left the business in 1877, Kilburn Brothers remained the name of the photography business until about 1880.

M. Nowack was a publisher from Minneapolis, MN.

Standard Series was a publisher and producer of stereocards in the 1890's. Known for pirating images they released series of stereocards of European and American views. They used photographs from various photographers including E. & H. T. Anthony and John Soule.

The publishing company Underwood & Underwood began in 1882. First a door-to-door business, the first small office that Bert and Elmer Underwood opened was in Ottawa, Kansas. In the next two years the businesses expanded quickly and their franchises spread all over North America. Bert Underwood was became a photographer after studying it in 1891, and took travel photos in Italy, Greece, Israel, and Egypt. By the turn of the century the Underwood firm was the most productive publisher in the industry and was never outdone by any proceeding company.