White, H.C. Co.

H.C. White Co. Chicago mm. Bedste kvalitet!

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Information on the H. C. White company is remarkably scarce, considering that they were among the top studios of their day, exceeded only by the Keystone View Company and Underwood & Underwood in volume and by nobody in quality. Hawley C. White, who described himself expansively as photographer, publisher, and inventor, started his career with an establishment in New York City for grinding spectacle lenses in 1870. In 1874 he moved to North Bennington, VT. and set up a small factory for producing stereoscopes. Thanks to his experience in optical glass preparation, his instruments soon were recognized as the best on the market and he became the world's leading manufacturer of them.

He didn't get into producing stereoviews until much later, 1899, but applied the some quality control and innovative technology to making them as he had to the viewers. He designed an automated assembly line which moved the photo paper in front of the negative, exposed it, and moved it on to standardized developing, fixing, and washing. Cutting and mounting of the prints was also done by machine. As a result the views which White produced are consistently the highest quality of any ever made, far better than those of his contemporaries Underwood and Keystone.

In 1907 he built a large factory incorporating this assembly line which was the finest in the world, with a production capacity of about 15,000 views per day. He also pioneered the use of a lengthy, informative text on the back of the view. About the only flaw in his design was that he used a very dark gray card stock and gilt or black lettering, a combination which is often extremely hard to read.
White himself was a photographer and in the first few years made many of the views himself, but soon turned the work over to staff photographers who produced generally one images. The company developed a line of some 13,000 titles, with good world-wide coverage. They covered about 40 boxed sets, some of 100 views, some of smaller assortments. In addition to their true photographic views they produced an extensive line of lithographed versions for the cheap end of the stereo market. In 1915 White, now in his 70s and faced with the general decline in popularity of stereoviews, decided to close the factory and retire. The stock of negatives was bought by the Keystone View Company and became a major part of their growing file of images. In the Keystone numbering system, views originally made by White can be easily identified since they are prefixed with a "W".

H.C. White, nr.7808. The principal Laundry of Frederiksted - Native women at the Washing Place, St. Croix, West Indies. 1902.

Hawley C. White var USA’s (og verdens) største producent af stereoskoper (han begyndte en fabrikation som 21årig i 1868) og i 1902-1915 havde han en produktion af stereobilleder af meget høj kvalitet. H.C. White og hans sønner fotograferede selv (og købte mange fotografers billeder).
Stereobillederne er krumme, som nyere amerikanske stereobilleder gerne er, for at kompensere for fejl i stereoskopernes linser.
J
eg fandt for nylig et sæt stereobilleder på 12 stk. som jeg vil vise her på siden. Jeg blev først fanget af et billede fra De Vestindiske Øer (de er ikke almindelige at finde), men opdagede så, at man med den lille samling kom en tur det meste af verden rundt. Bag på billederne er der noget overraskende en reklame for Transportspandene ”Perfect” og ”Reform” fra Burmeister & Wain! Men kig med og nyd de teknisk perfekte billeder – og de fine motiver.

Og er du rigtigt interesseret, så undlad ikke at kigge på denne super nørdede Flickrside, hvor man bl.a. kan se, hvordan man fremstiller stereoskoper: HER

12 billeder i alt er der i denne lille samling White-stereobilleder. (Flere er senere kommet til). Med fotonumre op til 15.283 får man et indtryk af størrelsen af en produktion, der dertil indebar et svimlende antal tryk af hvert af de enkelte billeder. En virkelig, amerikansk masseproduktion - og succes.

Dansk stereoskopklub har følgende oplysninger om fabrikken: White Company, H.C. 1899-ca. 1910: USA, North Bannington, Vermont
Firmaet begyndte udsendelsen af stereoskopbilleder i 1899. Hawley C. White havde et sliberi for brilleglas i New York i 1870. Fire år senere flyttede han til Vermont, hvor han startede en fabrik for fabrikation af stereoskoper af Holmes-typen og han blev den største hovedleverandør i verden. Han benyttede sig af den nye interessebølge for stereofotos og deres anvendelse i undervisningen og begyndte at fremstille billeder af høj kvalitet. Adskillige patenter, nogle af tvivlsom betydning, blev benyttet til hans "Perfec Stereographs" for at tilfredsstille de høje krav. I 1907 byggede White en treetagers specielt forstærket murstensbygning, som en kort periode var den fineste og mest mekaniserede fabrik til fremstilling af stereoskopbilleder i verden. Hele den fotomekaniske proces var automatiseret.

Konstantinopel, Tyrkiet, 1901

H.C. White, nr. 4309. Galata, the Foreign part of Constantinoble, from the Outer Bridge. 1901.

Italy, Rome, 1902

H.C. White, nr. 1632. Ruins of the Claudian Aquaduct, built 312 B.C. to bring water 51 miles to the city of Rome, Italy. 1902.

Italy, Perugia, 1908

H.C. White, nr. 1691. Palazzo del Municipio (Town Hall), Perugia, Itally. 1908.

Carthagena, Spanien, 1908

H.C. White, nr. 10885. Looking West over Carthagena, old Moorish castle at right, Spain. 1908.

Gibraltar, 1901

Savoyen, Frankrig, 1908

H.C. White, nr. 15283. Ascent of Mt. Blanc, crossing a dangerous crevasse on a snow bridge, Savoy Alps. 1908.

Lucerne, Schweitz, 1908

H.C. White Co. 15242 The River Reuss and Picturesque old Kapellbrücke (14th century) and Wasserturm, Lucerne, Switzerland. 1908.

Battle, England, 1902

H.C. White Co. 2556 Battle Abbey, founded by William the Conquerer at the Battle of Hastings, Battle, England, 1902.

Kimberley, Sydafrika, 1901

H.C. White, nr. 3116. Kaffirs Washing the Debris for Diamonds, Kimberley, South Africa. 1901.

St. Louis, USA, 1904

H.C. White, nr. 8480. Beautiful Fountains of the Central Cascade and the charming Grand Basin, North toward Louisiana Purchase Monument and Plaza of St. Louis, Louisiana Purchaise Exposition, St. Louis, U.S.A. 1904.
    12 billeder ialt er der i denne lille samling White-stereobilleder. Med fotonumre op til 15.283 får man et indtryk af størrelsen af en produktion, der dertil indebar et svimlende antal tryk af hvert af de enkelte billeder. En virkelig, amerikansk masseproduktion - og succes.
    Dansk stereoskopklub har følgende oplysninger om fabrikken: White Company, H.C. 1899-ca. 1910: USA, North Bannington, Vermont
Firmaet begyndte udsendelsen af stereoskopbilleder i 1899. Hawley C. White havde et sliberi for brilleglas i New York i 1870. Fire år senere flyttede han til Vermont, hvor han startede en fabrik for fabrikation af stereoskoper af Holmes-typen og han blev den største hovedleverandør i verden.
     Han benyttede sig af den nye interessebølge for stereofotos og deres anvendelse i undervisningen og begyndte at fremstille billeder af høj kvalitet. Adskillige patenter, nogle af tvivlsom betydning, blev benyttet til hans "Perfec Stereographs" for at tilfredsstille de høje krav.

I 1907 byggede White en treetagers specielt forstærket murstensbygning, som en kort periode var den fineste og mest mekaniserede fabrik til fremstilling af stereoskopbilleder i verden. Hele den fotomekaniske proces var automatiseret.

Rutland, Vermont, USA, 1905

H.C. White Co. 410. Otter Creek, near Rutland, Vermont, USA. 1905.

Grand Canyon. Arizona, USA, 1906

H.C. White, nr. 12205. Bright Angel Cove and North Rim, a favorite view, Grand Canyon, Arizona, U.S.A. 1906.

Yellowstone Park, USA

H.C. White Co. 12008 Giant's Thumb and Liberty Cap, two extinct geyser cones, east to Mount Evarts, Yellowstone Park, USA. 1905.

H.C. White & Co. U.S.A. No. 807 - Upper Falls of the Yellowstone, Co. 1901.

Poughkeepsie Railway, USA, 1907

H.C. White, nr. 13523. Famous Poughkeepsie Railway over Hudson river-steamer New York in distance, N.Y. U.S.A.
Bygget som en dobbeltsporet jernbanebro, færdig januar 1889, taget ud af drift i maj, 1974. National kulturarv, nu en fodgængerbro.

Baroda, Indien, 1902

H.C. White, nr. 8847, A street Sprinkler, Baroda, India, 1902.

Lahore, Indien, 1907

H.C. White, nr. 14063. A city of great antiquity - Lahore from Wazir Khan Mosque, India. 1907.