Graphoscope & Stereoscope 1880's

From 1860 to 1890 most American, French and English homes had a round table in the parlor, on which was usually a Bible and several other novelty items.  This was called the "Golden Age of Stereo". These novelty items were usually optical toys like graphoscopes. The Graphoscope here was made in 1880 by we believe the Rochester Optical Company, which also made a Stereoscopic camera to go with the Graphoscope. 

The wood is light mahogany with really nice nickel  trim.  The set is in excellent condition with exception of three minor flaws:  some light dark stain on the one of the stereoscope wood rims surrounding the lens; a small piece of veneer off the lower corner of the box; and a slight crack in the wood frame of the large lens.  All of these are viewable in the photographs.   Otherwise this piece is in outstanding condition considering it's age. From what we can research this Graphoscope sold for around $50 in 1880 -- which was a lot of money back then.

This dual-purpose viewer folds down to form a shallow box for storage, and when assembled may be adjusted in height to give a range of different viewing angles. The picture to be viewed is supported on the brackets at the rear, and viewed through one or two of the lenses in the hinged front panel, either as a single image or possibly as a stereo pair. The viewer may have been intended to give a heightened perspective effect of certain specially-drawn images, an established 19th-century domestic optical entertainment. The card shown in the viewer is of the White House and we have eleven other cards to include with this set.

The graphoscope had many things in common with magnifying glasses.  It was usually composed of a single lens that served to magnify whatever small picture was placed on the easel.  Later versions, called stereographoscopes, had two or three lenses and allowed people to see stereographic views.

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