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Stereo views, a pair of photographs mounted side by side on either glass or cardboard, were developed in the early 1850s. Because they were photographed from two slightly different points of view, they created the effect of three dimensions when seen through a specially developed viewer. Viewers called stereoscopes or stereopticans allowed the side-by-side photos to be melded into a single image. Prior to 1862, when a small hand-held viewer was developed, stereopticans were somewhat bulky, like the one seen here. These photos achieved great popularity in the late 19th century.

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