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Welcome to Great War in 3D – Stereoscopic Images of the First World War (WW1)
This is the online site for the Jordan/Ference Collection of stereographs related to the Great War (FWW/WWI). Stereoscopic photography was a popular pastime both before and after 1914-1918, and companies in most combatant nations sold stereoviews. This web site describes the manufacturers of photographic stereoviews and explains how to identify them based on their markings. Scans of the actual images are also located within this site, as are check-lists representing offerings from the various publishers. But the heart of this site is the newly incorporated Image Gallery, reachable through the banner below:
First World War stereoview sets were sold throughout the war and remained popular for many years after the war ended. In the United States, the most commonly encountered Great War stereographs were produced by four principal companies: Keystone, Underwood & Underwood, and W. E. Troutman of this country, and Realistic Travels of England. Other English-language stereograph sets were produced by Underwood & Underwood’s English subsidiary and by Rose Stereoviews of Australia. Another English company, Nightingale, made battlefield scenes taken a year or so after the war. Of all the producing nations, the French not surprisingly appear to have been the most prolific, with several major companies mass-producing both glass and paper stereographs. One major German company, Neue Photographische Gesellschaft (NPG), manufactured a variety of views for Germany and Austria-Hungary. In addition to images from all of the major publishers, this site also contains those taken by officers from both sides of the conflict with their own personal stereo cameras (“amateur” or “private” views).
The stereoview scans contained in this site are being provided royalty-free for research, duplication, and other non-commercial use to anybody who is interested in them. You may copy and use these images freely. Should you decide to publish any of these images elsewhere, please acknowledge the provenance with “Image from the Jordan/Ference Collection, courtesy of greatwarin3d.org”. If you need more detailed scans please contact us. Except where noted, the 3D scans presented on this site are from the physical Collection. Scans from other sources are included for reference purposes and the source is identified on these images.
The text in the Research Notes portion of this site, except where footnoted, is the product of original research and is copyrighted. Brief excerpts may be used when credit is given. For other uses, please contact us. We have also included a non-comprehensive list of articles in which scans from the Jordan/Ference collection have been featured.
Enjoy browsing our site. Your feedback is important to us. Please let us know if you have images to add to the site, new or corrected information, or questions concerning First World War stereography.
