This collection of ten stereoscopic photographs, taken in central and eastern Africa between 1907 and 1909, offer a glimpse into the past. The stereoscopic photographs, on their original mounts, depict snapshots from the East Africa Protectorate and Congo Free State at the beginning of the twentieth-century. The original descriptive titles of each of the stereographs are as follows:
- 'Women of Kikuyu tribe bringing firewood to a British Government station, East Africa' (1909)
- 'Sunrise exodus of the cattle from a Masai kraal at base of Mt Kenis, East Africa' (Undated)
- 'Kikuyu women with water vessels (gourds) beside village store-houses, East Africa' (Undated)
- 'Kavirondo people and hedged villages on plain N. of Victoria Nyanza, East Africa' (Undated)
- 'Picking coffee in Mosohi province, East Africa' (Undated)
- 'Turumu village and people in a forest-clearing near Yakusu, Congo Free State' (1907)
- 'Maidens of a Kikuyu tribe planting beans - warriors on police duty - East Africa' (1909)
- 'Basoko woman making pottery in a village near the Congo, Congo Free State' (1907)
- 'Picturesque Masais watching the popular gambling game of 'Bao', East Africa' (1909)
- 'Canoes at Yakusu near head of Congo steamer-navigation, Congo Free State' (1907)
The back of the stereograph numbered 10481 ('Picking coffee in Mosohi province, East Africa') features a longer description of the coffee plantation and the methods of picking coffee, taken from 'Notes of Travel, No. 44' by Underwood & Underwood, a publishing company first established at Ottawa, Kansas, by the young brothers Elmer and Bert Underwood in 1882. At the turn of the twentieth-century, the company published 'The Underwood & Underwood Travel System', which consisted of a boxed set of stereo views of a country or region, a guide book describing the significance of the places shown, and a map showing their location and the viewpoints from which the stereographs were taken. With the publication of the 'Travel System', Underwood & Underwood aimed to sell a portable and reproducible way of touring the world.
For further reading on Underwood & Underwood Publishers, see the Smithsonian Institution's page on their collection of Underwood & Underwood stereographs and the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library's page on the Underwood & Underwood Travel System, as linked below.
Reference
Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, Smithsonian Institution
'The Underwood & Underwood Travel System: The Caribbean at Arm's Length', The Howard-Tilton Memorial Library
(Click on images to enlarge)
