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Keystone View Company Stereocard Collection
MSS.2010.08.25  
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Collection Overview
 
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Description
The Keystone View Company Stereocard Collection contains more than 600 stereocards published by the Keystone View Company. The Stereocards were used for educational purposes as well as for entertainment. The Keystone View Company had branches throughout the country and Europe with staff photographers taking photographs throughout the world.
Background
The Keystone View Company was created in 1892 in Meadville, Pennsylvania by B.L. Singley as a company whose primary focus was to create a large variety of stereocards. By 1905 it was the largest sterographic company in the world. Keystone created and distributed millions of stereocards throughout the United States. In 1898 they organized their highly successful Education Department which produced boxed sets for school instruction of images and descriptive text illustrating culture, industry, commerce and politics world-wide. Stereocards came in different sets marked by a letter. Customers could buy stereocards by the "book", a box shaped like a book which contained 50, 100, or 200 stereocards. This collection prominently features set "P", the educational set designed for elementary school-aged children. While stereocards had been losing popularity shortly after cinema became one of the most popular entertainment mediums, the Keystone Company continued to produce stereocards until 1972 when it went out of business.
Extent
5 boxes (2.3 Linear Feet)
Restrictions
Copyright has not been assigned to the San José State University Special Collections & Archives. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Special Collections & Archives. Copyright restrictions may apply to digital reproductions of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.