NZ Stereographs

Stereographs are cards with two near identical photographs beside each other, which, when looked at through a stereoscope, give the user 3D views of the subject.

Stereoscopes were first made in the 1840s and became very popular when they found favour with Queen Victoria at the Great Exhibition in 1851. Stereoscopes were used for entertainment, education and travel promotion and were issued in New Zealand from the 1870’s through to the start of WW1. The more expensive types had true real photos mounted on slightly curved heavy card while cheaper versions such as these were given away in weekly pictorial newspapers such as the New Zealand Graphic. These were printed on flat card often in strips of 3 with perforations for them to be removed from the magazine.

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