Dating Stereoviews
The principal behind stereographic images was understood before the invention of photography, though they were a scientific curiosity, and not, so far as I know, sold commercially. With the invention of the daguerreotype, it didn’t take long for photographers to begin producing stereo-daguerreotypes, but they were expensive and never produced in great numbers. Most of the surviving stereo-daguerreotypes I have seen seem to date from the early 1850s, that was probably the time of their peak popularity.
Stereoviews were produced in other types as well, including tintypes, glass plates (ambrotypes and transparencies), etc., but it was the card mounted images that really caught on. At first they were still rather expensive, though cheaper than the daguerreotype version, and the viewer was an expensive item too, so only fairly wealthy people had them. But by the 1860s a cheaper viewer was introduced, and cards began to be mass produced. Demand for scenes from the Civil War probably helped spark the increase in popularity for the format.
The 1873 financial crash caused a temporary slowdown in photographic business, but the 1880s and 1890s saw a tremendous surge in the popularity of stereo images. Stereocards were mass produced and sold by canvassers. Popularity began to wane around 1900, but they continued to be produced in mass quantities by a few large companies. By the 1930s the stereocard fell out of favor, and was relegated to hobby status except for the last of the big companies, Keystone View Co., who turned to the educational market and eye testing as the last bastion of sterecards. Small stereo-transparencies soon took the place of the cards, viewed through special enlarging viewers.
Here then, is a very rough guide to dating typical stereoviews:
1840s and early 1850s, mostly stereo-daguerreotypes
Mid to late 1850s, stereo cards on thin flat cardboard with square corners, usually white or beige, though occasionally pink or light purple. The images too were typically square at that time.
1860-65 colored cards began to be used, typically yellow, purple and green. Corners were still square, and most images were square. Tax stamps help date those from 1864-66.
1865- 1875 the same colors continued to be used, plus orange and red, but now the corners were usually rounded. The cardstock used was thicker than in earlier years. About 1870 some photographers began to print lists of available titles on the backs of the stereoviews.
1875-82 Cards continued to be flat with rounded corners, and a variety of colors were popular. Printed lists on the back increased in popularity, and a few of the later cards from this period also had images that were arched-shape, instead of square, though that was not common.
1882-90 Curved cards were introduced about 1882, and gradually gained popularity, until by 1890 flat cards were rarely used for real photograph stereocards. The arched shaped images became the norm.
1890s Cards were typically orange, buff or salmon colored. Toward the end of the decade lithographic stereocards were introduced. These stereoviews were typically printed on flat white cardstock, and much inferior in quality to the photographic images.
In the early 1900s the big companies dominated the stereoview business, and few photographers (other than amateurs) bothered to make their own — though they sold images to the big companies. Cards from this period were typically gray or black, and the backs contained detailed descriptions of the images.
1931 Tru-Vue introduced stereoviews on film strips, for viewing with their enlarging viewer.
1939 View-Master introduced round reels of stereoviews, for use with their enlarging viewer.
1963 Keystone View company ceased publishing stereocards.