David Snedeker Collection of Florida Stereoviews

Collection

Identifier: MSS 0572

Staff Only

Scope and Content

The Snedeker Collection of Florida stereoviews contains over 2,000 stereoscopic images from the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Stereoviews were primarily marketed to tourists looking for souvenirs of their visit to Florida. The images depict Florida fauna, flora, landscapes, architecture, waterways, and people, including many views of African Americans. The bulk of the collection includes topics such as hotels and other tourist attractions, steamboats, and agriculture, but covers other subjects such as the Civil War and the Spanish American War. The collection also includes a coin-operated stereo card viewer in a wooden cabinet that was originally used in arcades. It was produced by the Mills Novelty Company of Chicago around 1905.

Dates

Creation: circa 1865-1930

Creator

Snedeker, David, 1950- (Person)

Access

The collection is open for research.

Biographical/Historical Note

Stereoviews consist of two almost identical photographs that are placed side by side on a paper card or glass plate. Looking at the cards through a special viewer, which has lenses placed two and a half inches apart, creates a three-dimensional image.

Extent

6 Linear Feet (10 Boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Snedeker Collection of Florida stereoviews contains over 2,000 stereoscopic images from the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These images depict Florida fauna, flora, landscapes, architecture, waterways, and people, including African Americans.

Arrangement

The stereoviews are arranged alphabetically by either publisher or photographer of the image.

Location

University of Florida Smathers Library Building

Acquisition Information

Donated by David Snedeker in 2021.

Existence and Location of Copies

Digital reproductions of selected items in the David Snedeker Collection of Florida Stereoviews are available online via the University of Florida Digital Collections (UFDC). Please read the Permissions for Use statement for information on copyright, fair use, and use of UFDC digital objects.

Related Materials

The Latin American and Caribbean Collection holds the William P. Angrick II Collection of Latin American and Caribbean Stereographs and the Paul A. Hughes Collection of Caribbean Stereographs. The Jim Liversidge Collection includes the Knowledge Visualized Concrete Study Course, a set of 600 geographic stereoviews for use in classrooms produced by the Keystone View Company, which also produced many of the images in the Snedeker Collection. The Panama Canal Museum Collection has hundreds of stereoviews related to the Panama Canal, the Canal Zone, and the Republic of Panama.

Processing Information

A small number of stereoview cards in the collection are not related to Florida. They are located in the last box of the collection, rather than alphabetically by publisher.