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Keystone View Company Papers,

 Collection
Identifier: Ms-2010-052

Scope and Content

The collection consists predominantly of correspondence by between salesmen in the field and the management of the Keystone View Company from 1903-1908. Please note: There is no correspondence from 1907.

Most of the letters are written to and from Walter W. Barnhart and include information on customers and accounts, new products, and company business. The collection also contains a single folder of blank order forms (referenced in some of the correspondence), purchase receipts, and two of Barnhart's draft cards (1918).

Dates

  • Creation: 1903-1918, undated
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1903 - 1908

Creator

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish from the Keystone View Company Papers must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Historical Information

The Keystone View Company was a major distributor of stereographic images, and was located in Meadville, Pennsylvania. From 1892 through 1963 Keystone produced and distributed both educational and comic/sentimental stereoviews and stereoscopes. The Company primarily marketed themselves to schools in the early twentieth century. As of 1905 the Company was the world's largest stereographic company.

Dozens of staff photographers were employed in the early 1900s. Also in the early 1900s, when stereoviewing was declining and other companies were in trouble, Keystone bought their stocks and incorporated them into their own holdings. Notable amongst many such purchases were the huge and varied inventories of B. W. Kilburn, the H. C. White Company, and Underwood & Underwood. As a result, Keystone claimed to have had some 2 million negatives by the mid-1930s.

By the 1920s the Keystone Company was the sole surviving major producer of conventional card-mounted views anywhere in the world. They had offices in London, Paris, Sidney, Capetown, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. Part of this prominence was derived from the sale of World War I stereograph sets, as Keystone was one of the only publishers to secure permission to photograph battlefields and military operations.

Full Extent

0.2 Cubic Feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Collection contains correspondence between Keystone View Company management and salesmen in the field, predominantly W. W. Barnhart. The collection also includes blank order forms.

Arrangement

The collection is organized by material type. Correspondence folders are in chronological order.

Acquisition Information

The Keystone View Company Papers were purchased by Special Collections in March 2010.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Keystone View Company Papers commenced and was completed in July 2010.

Title
A Guide to the Keystone View Company Papers, 1903-1918, undated (Bulk 1903-1908)
Status
Completed
Author
Josh Howard
Date
© 2010 By Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. All rights reserved.
Language of description
English
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
Description is in English

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections, Virginia Tech Repository

Contact:
Special Collections, University Libraries (0434)
560 Drillfield Drive
Newman Library, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg Virginia 24061 US
540-231-6308