Our old stereoscope: entertainment and education

Sometimes we come across something that reminds us how fast things have changed in the relatively short period of time that we call "modern." In preparing to move to our new home (moving day is two weeks away), I came across the old stereoscope pictured here. I had forgotten I had it.

It was in my paternal grandparents' home from my earliest memories of that place. Then it was in my parents' home. It is from around the turn of the 20th century, and I remember viewing the cards that are with it and being quite impressed by the 3-D pictures. Of course, we had "ViewMasters" by then, which represented a large upgrade in 3-D capability, so this device was way out-of-date when I was a child in the 1950s. We were more drawn to the latest thing.

Most of the pictures in the collection that survives with it are of places and people from around the world. But nearly two dozen of them are of the construction of the Panama Canal, and they are quite spectacular. I can imagine Myerses sitting around in a small living room, more or less Victorian style, being awed by that engineering marvel, studying the pictures carefully to try to figure out just how people could build something like that, no doubt doubting they'd ever be so lucky as to travel to see it for themselves.

It takes a lot more to entertain us these days, and we are much more entertained, and I suspect that the vast amount of entertainment we do ingest is far less likely to educate us about things that matter.

I checked online for asking prices for these devices, thinking I'd sell it. And it looks as if I could get pretty good money for it, particularly for all the Panama Canal pictures. But I am going to keep it. It has a value beyond money, the value of happy memories of time spent at my grandparents' farm, learning about wonders near and far.