The World in 3-D: International Expositions and Stereoscopes

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"A village of Penobscot Indians" at the Chicago World's Fair, 1893.

Though more and more Westerners were traveling abroad in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, international expositions allowed them to dip their toe into foreign cultures without going far from the comforts of home. Like travel photography, these expositions, or world’s fairs, can be interpreted in different ways. A positive view sees them as an expression of Western interest in how people around the world lived. At the same time, the highly choreographed and often sensationalist displays have been criticized for their facile juxtaposition of “primitive” and “modern” societies.

Shown here are photos from the World’s Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World’s Fair) of 1893 and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (or St. Louis World’s Fair) of 1904. Visitors moved from display to display, sampling staged versions of world cultures. Photographic portfolios could be purchased and carried home as souvenirs. Like the displays themselves, these publications set up a primitive-versus-modern or progressive-versus-regressive dichotomy. For example, in the background of a photo depicting a village of Penobscot Indians ("a relic of the famous Five Nations who once were masters of the whole northeast"), we see an elevated railway which took visitors around the Chicago World's Fair. Images are also paired, placing "archaic" cultures alongside scenes of Western technological inventiveness. Thus, a family of Alaska Natives, sitting with a dogsled in front of a tent covered with reindeer skins, appears directly opposite a photo of the Palace of Electricity and Palace of Transportation at the St. Louis World's Fair.

Another way to view the world in 3-D was with a stereoscope. Invented in the mid-1800s, it allowed countless people to become armchair travelers. The instrument’s lenses bring together two photographs taken simultaneously a few inches apart, creating a three-dimensional effect. Schools frequently owned large collections of stereoview cards which were used for teaching students about foreign cultures.

Primary Sources in Archives & Special Collections

The Magic City: A Portfolio of Original Photographic Views of the Great World’s Fair and its Treasures of Art. Philadelphia: Historical Pub. Co., 1894. Rare Book Collection, T500 .C1 B85 Extra Oversize.

The Forest City: A Portfolio of Official Photographic Views of the Universal Exposition, St. Louis, 1904, Commemorating the Acquisition of the Louisiana Territory. St. Louis: N. D. Thompson, 1904. Rare Book Collection, T860 .C1 S8 Extra Oversize.

Stereoscopes and stereoview cards. Special Collections.