Introduced commercially in the United States in 1854, for the next half a century it became a way of life in popular culture. From 1850’s to 1930’s stereoscopic photography became a sensation. not unlike movies, radio and television that would follow it, stereoscopic photographs became a favorite past time.
A vast market was created with numerous photographers and eventually publishing houses exclusively dedicated to stereoscopic views. Many were created with the tourist market in mind and were sold in bookshops, stations and hotels. But these publishing houses had copious catalogs with various themes: from topographic views, the main field in which stereoscope was used, and images of exotic lands and peoples, including nudes.
The popularity of stereoscopes is revealed when looking at statistics as the ones presented in the book: “Stereo Views - A history of stereographs in America and their collection”. Between 1858 and 1920 it is estimated that four million different stereographs were produced in America. In the year 1862 alone, two publishing houses in Europe produced almost two million stereoscopic views. The distribution of these views was assured by broad exchange agreements between photographers across nations.
Believe it or not, photographic postcards adopted as a standard size by the postal service in 1907, became the main competitor of stereographs. 677,777,798 postcards were mailed through the U.S. Postal Service from July 1st, 1907 to June 30th, 1908, Becoming the greatest collectible hobby that the world had ever known. Access to the exotic and remote was at one time accessed through stereographs, but now there was also moving pictures and radio for entertainment. By the 1930’s, publishers and photographers saw stereocards as no longer a viable a commercial enterprise.