Keystone Junior Stereo Viewer

United States, 1930s

Will the “real” Keystone Junior stereoscope please stand up? Here are two styles — one folding and one collapsible — and both can be considered Keystone “Juniors”. Both were manufactured around 1933 by the Keystone View Company in Meadville, Pennsylvania and were designed to hold the smaller 2 1/2” x 4 1/4” stereoviews Keystone began producing around 1933. The spring-loaded, foldable version is unmarked and is considered a special edition, usually found as part of Keystone’s 1933 World’s Fair boxed stereoview set photographed by Kaufmann-Fabry. We have the glossy maroon and mottled gray colors. The collapsible version of the Keystone Junior has a textured finish (we have red and green colors), the Keystone logo on front and the company name on the back of the cardholder — that is, if it has a solid cardholder as there’s a collapsible with an open-backed cardholder. The collapsible version is very similar to the viewer produced later by Advertising Displays, Inc. — pics of that one coming soon.

Keystone Junior 1933 World’s Fair Stereoscope Set

Wings of a Century Stereoviews

Besides the beautiful fuchsia color of this Keystone Junior set, what attracted us was the rare set of stereoviews. Previously, we thought all the Keystone Junior viewers of this style came with the same standard views of the 1933 Century of Progress World’s Fair.

The stereoview set with this viewer documents a special feature of that year’s World’s Fair called “Wings of a Century”. It was an incredible open-air transportation “pageant” with hundreds of actors, authentic stagecoaches, and eleven different historical American locomotives. We share a few of the stereoviews below and will feature more in an upcoming Stereoview Spotlight edition of our blog.

Collapsible Keystone in Green