Mensen met stereoscoop en stereofoto's c. 1890 - 1910

This stereoscopic card, titled "An Optical Delusion", was produced by the Universal Stereoscopic View Company. The card is printed with two nearly identical images, which, when viewed through a stereoscope, create a single three-dimensional image. This process of mass-producing images for widespread consumption speaks volumes about the industrialization of leisure. Photography, once a rare and expensive process, became increasingly accessible through companies like Universal Stereoscopic. This image, like so many others produced for stereoscopes, provided a glimpse into other lives and places, fabricating a kind of simulated experience. The very act of creating these cards involved a complex division of labor. From the photographers capturing the initial images, to the printers and distributors, each card represents a cog in the machine of mass media. By understanding its production, we can see this stereoscopic card not just as a picture, but as a product of its time, enmeshed in the social and economic currents of the era.