Getting Crafty: A Simple Hands On Opportunity

I’ve focused a lot of my education on learning about historic house museums and other heritage sites, so I’m keenly aware of the challenges that these types of museums face. One of the big conundrums is how to move to more hands-on, active experiences in typically static spaces like period rooms and permanent exhibits. One thing that I am continually trying to keep in mind and improve while working at the Camron-Stanford House is how I can improve the visitor experience in small ways so that we are adding new content while maintaining our period-rooms heart of our institution.

One very easy and low-budget interactive experience I worked into our period rooms was an opportunity for visitors to use a real stereoscope. There’s quite a decent collection of stereograph cards, and we have a couple stereoscope viewers. At least one stereoscope and a few cards have always been on display in the period rooms. They’re an interesting piece of vintage technology, and people enjoy learning about how they work. However, hearing about how a visual experience works is quite different from actually experiencing it for yourself. A missed opportunity for us, since so many people ask about them.

So I went about resolving this problem. I purchased a low-cost replica stereoscope online. It’s not as fancy as the authentic, once top-shelf 19th century ones we have on display, but it uses the same lens technology and provides visitors a chance to hold the technology in their hands and up to their eyes.

Stereograph cards were all the rage in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Much like people enjoy purchasing post cards as mementos of their travels today, 19th century travelers often picked up stereograph cards at tourist sites and novelty shops. Because they were so prevalent for so long, they are quite easy to find. I visited a local antique store and they had an entire shelf of boxes filled with stereographs from all corners of the world. I was able to purchase a handful. I even found a few cheeky Halloween themed cards that were perfect for our annual Morbid Desire exhibit.

As a result, we have a working stereoscope that allows our visitors to do more than hear about a piece of 19th century technology— they get to pick it up and see how it works themselves! Having an interactive element in our period rooms enriches that experience and provides a more active, engaging experience than simply seeing the period rooms in more of a bystander role. And, it cost just over $50. I consider this easy project a win!

Stereoscope- $35.00

Stereograph Cards- 5 @ $4.00/each