Collectors, Dealers Asked for Assistance in Recovering Artifacts
Dr. Brent D. Glass, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, announced the theft of a stereographic viewer and 34 stereoview cards from the Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum in Scranton. The cards were produced in 1897 by the Keystone View Company, which had offices in Meadville, Crawford County, and St. Louis, Missouri.
"These artifacts belong to the people of Pennsylvania," Dr. Glass said. "They are part of our heritage and must be recovered and returned to the Anthracite Heritage Museum. Their presence helps to interpret the lives of the residents of the coal-mining region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries."
The stereograph, or stereoview, consisted of a double set of paper prints mounted on card stock to be viewed through a stereoscope, producing a three-dimensional image. They became a popular photographic medium in Europe in the mid-1800s, and through mass production methods became widely distributed in the United States by the 1880s. Stereographs reached their peak of popular distribution in the years 1902-1935 through the business efforts of such companies as the Keystone View Company and Underwood & Underwood.
Stereographic cameras produced a negative with two views of the same image side by side on a glass plate. Prints from such negatives were intended to be seen through a stereographic viewer, which would provide a three-dimensional image.
The cards are 3.5 inches high by 7 inches wide and hold sepia color photographic images. Each card and the viewer are marked with an accession number beginning with "AC."
Dr. Glass asked all museum officials, antiques dealers, collectors, flea market customers and Internet auction buyers to report any suspicious artifacts offered for sale to the Borough of Taylor police at +1 (570) 562-2210, or Steve Ling, museum administrator of the Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum, at +1 (570) 963-4804.
STOLEN STEREOVIEW CARDS
1. "Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone Park, WYO., U.S.A." 2. "The Devil's Hole, Niagara Falls, N.Y., U.S.A." 3. "Horseshoe Falls, Niagara Falls, N.Y., U.S.A." 4. "Wall Street, New York, N. Y., U.S.A." 5. "Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A." 6. "Ogden and Wasatch Mountains, Utah, U.S.A." 7. "An Open Passageway in the Debris, Galveston, Texas, U.S.A." 8. "The Last Supper." 9. "The Resurrection." 10. "The `Maid of the Mist.' Niagara Falls, N.Y." 11. "Multnomah Falls, Columbia River, Oregon, U.S.A." 12. "Pillars of Hercules, Columbia River, Oregon, U.S.A." 13. "Machine Warping Room, Cotton Mill, Nashville, Tenn., U.S.A." 14. "Ancient Gateway, Bale, Switzerland." 15, "Looking at the Matterhorn from Riffelburg Hotel, Switzerland." 16. "Panorama of Berne, Switzerland." 17. "Sea of Wool-Lambs for all the Marys, Sheep Industry, Montana, U.S.A." 18. "Compressed Beef-Cattle Shipping Scene, Montana, U.S.A." 19. "Garden of Gethsemane and Mount of Olives, Palestine." 20. "The Traditional Mountain of Temptation, Palestine." 21. "Summer Scene `Mid Winter's Grandeur,' Norway." 22. "The Firmament Sheweth His Handiwork." Mexico. 23. "Union Stock Yards, Texas Cattle, Chicago, Ill., U.S.A." 24. "Dining Room, Soldiers' Home, Marion, Ind., U.S.A." 25. "Lee Monument and Temple Sinai, from Howard's Memorial Library. New Orleans, La. U.S.A." 26. "Maryland Heights, MD., U.S.A." 27. "Union Station, St. Louis, MO., U.S.A." 28. "Alhambra Palace (Court of the Lions), Granada, Spain." 29. "You didn't do it? Look-don't tell me so! I'll give you just five minutes to pack and go." 30. "You brazen hussy! You shall leave at this hour! And Least of your Fault is the wasted Flour." 31. "Washington's Old Home, Mt. Vernon, VA., U.S.A." 32. "Baptizing in Cedar Creek under the Great Natural Bridge, VA." 33. "Fluming Lumber from the Mountains in Oregon, U.S.A." 34. "Chinese Soldiers from Wei-Hai-Wei, who served under the British during the Seige of Tien-Tsin, China."
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