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Contact: Alison S. Prieto,
305-375-1657, pr@historical-museum.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Do a Double Take in
Stereoviews of Florida and the Caribbean
at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida
June 23 – September 10, 2006
MIAMI, FL (June 14, 2006) – Before the phonograph, radio, movies or television, home entertainment was found in photographs, though not only the standard kind. Stereoviews were widely popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. By taking two nearly identical photographs and placing them side-by-side, stereoviews gave the illusion of a three-dimensional image when viewed through a stereoscope. Stereoviews of Florida and the Caribbean, a new exhibition at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida, will open June 23 through September 10, 2006.
“Stereoviews will give museum visitors a chance to see Florida and the Caribbean from the viewpoint of earlier generations. These images allowed average Americans and Europeans to learn about the world before they had the means to travel extensively,” says exhibition curator Karyn Anderson.
Developing alongside photography, stereoviews got their start in the 1830s in Great Britain. The trend soon spread to the United States with the invention of the handheld stereoscope in 1859. By the turn of the century, few middle-class American homes were without a stereoscope and a selection of views. Stereoviews also served as postcards and advertisements for potential tourists.
The development of today’s three-dimensional films, viewed with special glasses and aimed at adolescent audiences, can be traced back to stereoviews. The fun, popular View-Master toy with eye-popping reels featuring 3D images is also a descendant of the stereoview.
Stereoviews of Florida and the Caribbean is presented in collaboration with The National Stereoscopic Association (NSA), an organization of stereoview and 3D image enthusiasts. The NSA will hold its weeklong 2006 annual convention, “Hot Miami! Cool 3D!,” in downtown Miami on July 11-17.
“The realism of the 3D image allows museum visitors to see into these windows of the past in a way not possible with ‘flat’ photographs,” says Bill Moll, Convention Chair of the National Stereoscopic Association.
The more than 130 stereoviews on display examine flora and fauna, including the cultivation of sugarcane, tobacco, bananas and pineapple; picturesque scenery, including the Everglades, the Royal Palm Hotel in Miami and the Cathedral in Havana; tourism, including alligator wrestling, ostrich riding and the sponge market in Key West; diverse people, including Seminole Indians and Cuban families; technology and war, including channel dredging to construct the Panama Canal and the U.S. Army preparing to invade Cuba; and natural disasters, including devastating earthquakes and volcanoes in the Caribbean.
Museum visitors will receive disposable stereoscopes to properly view the stereoviews. The exhibition consists of stereoviews from the Historical Museum’s permanent collection, and the personal collections of Douglas Hendricksen, Bill Moll and Russell Norton.
Also on display June 23 – January 14, 2007 will be Miami Beach: America’s Tropical Resort. Revisit the glamorous story of how a mangrove-covered sandbar became America’s Year ’Round Playground. See over 100 artifacts, including a piece of the 1913 Collins Bridge, a 1930s slot machine, hotel china, vintage bathing suits, home movies, brochures, advertisements, postcards and photographs dating back to the early 1920s.
About the Historical Museum of Southern Florida
The Historical Museum of Southern Florida is dedicated to telling the story of South Florida and the Caribbean, in order to enhance the community’s quality of life by understanding the past, linking it to the present and building a better future. The Historical Museum hosts a permanent exhibition gallery and a special gallery with several changing exhibitions each year. In addition, the museum houses the Research Center, a non-circulating library and archives open to museum visitors, and The Indies Company, the museum’s store, which offers a unique array of Florida-themed books and gifts. The Historical Museum is located in downtown Miami in the Miami-Dade Cultural Center, across the street from Metrorail’s Government Center Station at 101 West Flagler Street, Miami, Florida 33130. Hours are Monday - Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sunday noon - 5 p.m. Admission for adults is $5, children (ages 6-12) is $2, and children under 6 are free. Saturday is free admission, and Sunday is by contribution. For more information, call 305.375.1492 or visit www.historical-museum.org.
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