Once Upon A Time - How The World
Looked, Lived, and Vanished

A Global View Of The World

With Rare Photographs & Text
By The Keystone View Company

 Once the plate was developed, it was "fixed" in a solution of sodium hyposulphite, discovered by Herschel. After washing, the "photograph" was placed under glass, preventing damage which could occur with a touch of the hand.

It took another ten years of photographic development before the technology was available to produce the first lantern slides. The development of the lantern slide (made of glass) allowed the photograph to be seen by many people when projected. This new medium opened the door for countless entertainment and educational possibilities.

For further information,

http://rs6.loc.gov/ammem/award97/mhsdhtml/lanternhistory.html

As the title states, the images I have posted, were, for the most part, the brainchild of B.L. Singley of Meadville, Pennsylvania, in 1892. Singley was an amateur photographer who saw a market and heavily capitalized upon it. You might say he was the original Barnum and Bailey of the photographic world. He used the public's fascination of disastrous events to bring the images to them. These images were produced on a stereoview card

Instead of giving you with a detailed description of the Keystone company, I am providing a link to the original information located at the University of California Riverside. They hold the original plates to the company, donated to them by the Mast Company.

http://www.cmp.ucr.edu/collections_page/page/default.km.html