Whiting’s Sculptoscope by American Novelty Company

United States, 1900s

Due to its size and time period, this stereoscope is definitely a departure from what we usually add to the collection and there’s a reason it was welcomed in. Sculptoscopes came in 2 versions: the rounded one pictured below and a rectangular-shaped one. They tend to be on the expensive side, particularly if they’re in working order, all the glass on the sides and top is intact, the lock and key are present, and the paint is in good shape or has been restored. What stood out about this particular Sculptoscope is that it is NOT modified for coin-operation: the coin slot is closed, there’s no coin collection unit and the advance lever is not the standard trigger-style. Paul Wing’s book mentions there may or may not have been any like this in existence. We love a good viewer mystery!