Neue Photographische Gesellschaft (NPG) 3D Advertising Lithographed Tin Viewers
Europe / United States, 1900s
Around 1900, an assortment of folding tin stereo viewers was created by Neue Photographische Gesellschaft (NPG), which translates to New Photographic Society. Arthur Schwarz holds the German patent (#157580) & U.S. patent (#720849) for the viewer design. NPG advertised it in their catalog as their “Imperial” pocket stereoscope and it was used for their extensive variety of miniature stereoviews. NPG began selling the viewers as promotional items to a number of early 20th-century businesses around Europe and the U.S. Initially, the promotional viewers would still carry the Imperial brand name printed on the top but eventually, the entire surface of the viewer was promotional in nature with only a tiny NPG logo in the lower left to indicate the origin — some don’t even have the NPG logo. There are 2 viewer styles, one allows for the cardholder to slide back and forth for focusing and the other is fixed focus. Around 1920, NPG sold its stereoscopy assets — views and viewers — to Bing-Werke who continued producing the miniature folding stereoscope in all black.
Design
The art nouveau design around the outer edges of most of the fixed-focus NPG viewers followed a standard pattern (usually in blues, greens, & gold) that we call the “flower” template because of the 10 horizontal flowers directly beneath the lenses. The standard design around the outer edges of the adjustable viewer is a pattern we call the “organic wave” — it’s a flowerless, wavy design in almost neon green. The center of those standard designs is usually tan. One of the fun parts of collecting NPG viewers is finding the ones that are different from the standard flower and organic wave design (see Suchard, Eichhorn, and Royal Netherlands) and those with full, non-standard colors and no tan center (see Grünfeld Linen Factory and Dürkopp-Blue) or large colorful graphics (see De Jong-Style 1, Dr. Georg Schneider and Hexenbrille). As for their boxes, most of the viewers came in a plain, dark red cardboard box with space for the viewer and a selection of stereoviews. However, some had specialty boxes like Grünfeld Linen Factory, Dürkopp, Suchard, and Stollwerck.
Click one of the images below to learn more about the viewer.
NPG Stereo Viewers Without Advertising
NPG’s Imperial Brand
Imperial text only
Germany - Style 1, fixed
Germany - Style 1, adjustable
Germany - Style 2, fixed
Germany - Style 2, adjustable
Germany (for Stollwerck)
France, fixed
France, adjustable
Spain
United States (for Rotograph) - no patent
United States (for Rotograph) - with patent
Advertising NPG Stereo Viewers
American Biscuit Company
Bally - Germany
Bally - French
Bella Vista
De Gulden Bie
De Jong's, Style 1
De Jong's, Style 2
Diadem Coffee
Dobbelman’s Zeep
Dr. Georg Schneider Erste Harzer Parfümerie Fabrik / Harz Perfume Factory
Dürkopp
Dürkopp, blue
Farmacia Sol
F. V. Grünfeld Landeshuter Leinen und Gebildweberei / Linen Factory
Hexenbrille
Jose Francisco Correa
Kis-Me Gum
Knorr's Cafe
L'Abeille d'Or
La Perla Astorgana
Louis Dobbelmann
Monopol-Thee
Rotoscope
Royal Netherlands Coffee Roasting Mills
Ruelle & Lecocq Chocolat
Stollwerck Chocolade, later version
Sträuli & Cie
Suchard Chocolat
Sulima
Sunlight Savon
Texas Pacific Railway
Vautier Cigarettes
Wauters Freres
Wilh Eichhorn