Stereograph cards were the way 3D images were first introduced way back in the 1880s. To view them you had to have a stereo viewer like this. I have a few of these cards. So I thought I’d share a few scans of one of my favorite subjects, Theodore Roosevelt. Below you’ll see 3 versions of each. First the original, then the image converted to crosseye viewing, then an anaglyph for use with red/blue 3d glasses.

One more: This photo was obviously taken at the same time as the one above, but here John Muir has Joined him. There must be a stereograph card of this one out there as well, but this is the original uncropped photo from the Library of Congress. Except I colorized this one in photoshop.

NOW IT”S CRAFTY TIME!

If you have one of those old stereo viewers, you can print images from this site and make your own stereocards! follow these simple instructions:

1. find an image pair on this site and on it to get a larger file.

2 Drag it to your desktop and Print it out. (You’ll have to scale them to about 7 inches wide in a photo editing program or printer application to fit those viewers.)

3. Then you’ll generally have to flip them (put the left one on the right and right on the left). This is because I post most of these for cross eye vieweing and the stereo viewers work parallel. (The stereo cards above have been posted both crosseyed and parallel ways. The smaller images will be the ones you don’t have to flip.)

4. mount them on some sort of cardboard, and voila.

I just got in a bunch of 3d Glasses. Email me if you want a pair FREE! My email is:

How did that lumber that built yer great grandparents’ house get cut? How did they wash their clothes, pump their water, and churn their butter? Well, if they were well-to-do they probably had portable engines like these to run simple machines.
I went to the Mid-Iowa Antique Power Show this past weekend and shot some video of the machines in action. And in-action is my favorite way for antiques to be. I mean, it makes me a little sad when I see an old fireplace in disuse, or an antique camera being used as a bookend. That’s why I admire hobbyists like these who keep history alive. I shot video here because if you see still images of these, you’re only getting half the picture.

If you know anything about engines this may seem like “duh”: but I asked my dad why some of the engines make that put put bang bang sound. Well basically each bang is the little explosions being set off by the spark plug or whatever, and in between explosions the wheel is just coasting. With some of the engines youd hear a bang then the wheel would go faster, start to slow down, and another bang! the closer together the explosions I guess the more consistent the speed. The engine in yer car is doing that in a way but it’s just more controlled.

This show was pretty good but if you really wanna see some awesome engines you HAVE to go to the Old Threshers Reunion. They’ve got these tractors that look more in shape and size like early 19th century steam powered trains. Which is basically what they are except they don’t need tracks to run.

ps. I just realized that adding “&fmt=6;” to the end of a youtube video address makes it higher definition. So I’ve gone back and done that to previous videos I’ve posted!

Part 3 in my ongoing west trip series.

On any trip through South Dakota you have to stop at Wall Drug. These pictures were all taken using the “cha cha” method. In other words, not with a 3D camera but rather with a normal camera. One picture, then shifted over a couple inches, and another picture. This was before I had the Fuji 3D Camera and the View-Master Personal camera doesn’t do low light pictures so well.

Why must one stop in Wall, South Dakota? I think the pictures speak for themselves.





There. Isn’t that awesome? All that and “Free Ice water”. But wait there’s more.


This band is so awesome. I’m totally hiring them for my next clambake.


Lovely wood carved heroes of the old west sit and stand here and there. Here’s Annie Oaklie:

Wall Drug is a bit of a drive from Deadwood, but Wild Bill is a popular character in them parts.


The wax museum across the street (not affiliated with Wall Drug) also paid tribute to Wild Bill.


…as well as a many other western legends. The famous Indian who shot that one Buffalo:


The Duke and The Man With no Name:

I took some pictures with the View-Master camera too. maybe I’ll upload more one of these days.