REFERENCE CODE: AkAMH

REPOSITORY NAME:
Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center
Bob and Evangeline Atwood Alaska Resource Center
625 C Street
Anchorage, AK 99501
Phone: 907-929-9235
Fax: 907-929-9233
Email: resourcecenter@anchoragemuseum.org

Guide prepared by: Sara Piasecki, Photo Archivist

TITLE: Alaska Travel Glass Slides

COLLECTION NUMBER: B2014.003

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

Dates: circa 1910-1920

Extent: 54 items

Language and Scripts: The collection is in English.

Name of creator(s): Edmund Andrews, Frank La Roche, Johnson, Winter & Pond, Victor
Animatograph Co.

Administrative/Biographical History:
At the time of processing, not much was known about the original provenance of the collection.
Robert A. Spencer obtained them from his uncle, who had traveled to Alaska in the early 20th
century. The box in which the slides were housed, and a few of the slides, bear the property
stamp of the Manual Training High School in Denver, Colorado.

The Victor Animatograph Co. was established in Davenport, Iowa, in 1910 and was most well
known for producing 16mm motion picture projectors. According to researchers at Baylor
University, Victor’s “slides were 2 x 2.25 inches and were shown on the Viopticon, the first
truly portable stereopticon. The Vioptican projected images using a brilliant carbon arc lamp.
Sets of Viopticon slides were available for purchase or rent as illustrated lectures.”
1

Scope and Content Description:
The collection consists of 54 glass slides, including 37 black-and-white slides, 7 colored slides,
and ten colored slides in Victor Animatograph Co. mounts. Some of the images are copies of
commercially produced prints. Three of the photos are signed by E. Andrews of Douglas,

1 Campbell, Alice. “Before the Decepticons: early projected images from the Victor Animatograph Company.”
Posted on The Texas Collection[blog], July 11, 2011.

Alaska, one by Frank La Roche of Seattle, Washington, and one by Winter & Pond of Juneau,
Alaska. One signed by Johnson might be the work of George L. Johnson.

Arrangement: Loosely arranged by format and subject.


CONDITIONS GOVERNING ACCESS AND USE

Restrictions on Access: The collection is open for research use.

Physical Access: Original items in good condition. Access to originals limited. Digital
surrogates available in research room.

Technical Access: No special equipment is needed to access the materials.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use:
The Anchorage Museum is the owner of the materials and makes available reproductions for
research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Anchorage
Museum before any reproduction use. The Anchorage Museum does not necessarily hold
copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may
require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation:
Alaska Travel Glass Slides, Anchorage Museum, B2014.003

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Acquisition and Appraisal Information
Donated by Gail West in February 2014. West acquired the slides from Robert A. Spencer, a
colleague at the Colorado School of Mines in 1964. Spencer had received the slides from his
uncle, who had traveled to Alaska in the early 20th century.

Processing Note
All items were scanned at time of processing. Wooden slide box discarded.

Note
Collection shelved with other glass collections.


SUBJECTS
Sunny Point Packing Co.
Eskimos—Alaska
Dogsledding—Alaska
Reindeer herding—Alaska
Agriculture—Alaska
Glaciers—Alaska

Totem poles—Alaska
Fisheries—Alaska
Steamboats—Alaska
Sun—Rising and setting
Inside Passage
Skagway (Alaska)
Juneau (Alaska)
Wrangell (Alaska)
Alert Bay (B. C.)

Detailed Description of the Collection

[Colored, mounted slides produced by Victor Animatograph Co.]
1 —15116. Alaskan Indian boy and dog [on image]. Boy and dog. Victor Animatograph Co. [on mount] [studio portrait of Alaska Native boy in parka with fur ruff, husky puppy sitting at left]
2 — 15768 [on image]. Esquimo. Victor Animatograph Co. [on mount] [group portrait of Alaska Native family, with four men, three women, and four children]
3 — 13815. [on image]. Dogs and sled. Victor Animatograph Co. [on mount] [dog team pulling sled away from waterway, cabin at left, mountains in background]
4 — 13805 [on image]. Dog and sled. Victor Animatograph Co. [on mount] [musher with passenger in basket, dog team stopped on trail]
5 — 15767 [on image]. Reindeer. Victor Animatograph Co. [on mount] [herders with large herd of reindeer at water crossing]
6 — 15762. Johnson [on image]. Oats field. Victor Animatograph Co. [on mount] [cultivated field at harvest time, tall cottonwood or birch trees in background, Matanuska Valley?]
7 — 13803 [on image]. Glacier. Victor Animatograph Co. [on mount] [view across water to foot of glacier]
8 — 13819 [on image]. Skagway River. Victor Animatograph Co. [on mount] [bird’s eye view of river gorge looking towards Skagway]
9 — 13810 [on image]. Skagway. Victor Animatograph Co. [on mount] [bird’s eye view]
10 — 13798. An Alert Bay, B. C., totem [on image]. Totem. Victor Animatograph Co. [on mount] [totem pole outside house, with thunderbird at the top, bear at bottom with man between its paws]
11 — Skagway [unmounted black-and-white glass slide with typed label taped on, view of docks along waterway, steamship docked at left]
12 — Skagway [similar to .11, with more ships at dock, small boats moored in inlet]
13 — Skagway [on label]. Alaska [on original mount] [unmounted black-and-white copy slide, bird’s eye view of docks looking towards Skagway, steamship unloading passengers on dock at right]
14 — Mr. Clark with rhubarb, Skagway [on label] [unmounted black-and-white glass slide with typed label taped on, man holding large leafy plant]
15 — Juneau, Alaska. E. Andrews [on image] [unmounted black-and-white glass slide, copy of print held to board with thumbtacks, bird’s eye view of Juneau looking west from the side of Mount Roberts]
16 — Wrangell, Alaska. E. Andrews [on image] [unmounted black-and-white glass slide, copy of print held to board with thumbtacks, bird’s eye view of Wrangell from a hill behind town of buildings and boat harbor; with islands, mountains, and inland strait beyond]
17 — [unmounted black-and-white copy slide, path through woods with fir trees and ferns, Lover’s Lane in Sitka?]
18 — [unmounted black-and-white glass slide, copy of print held to board with tacks, original print with markings of Manual Training High School in Denver, view from water of docks and buildings, fir-tree covered hill behind, unidentified Southeast town]
19 — [unmounted black-and-white glass slide, copy of print held to board with tacks, original print with markings of Manual Training High School in Denver, view from water of docks and buildings with prominent church steeple in center, fir-covered hills receding into distance, unidentified Southeast Alaska or British Columbia town]
20 — #1-8 [on image] [taped black-and-white lantern slide, copy of print, view from water of buildings of town with prominent double-towered church at left, low hill behind, unidentified British Columbia or Southeast Alaska town]
21 — [unmounted black-and-white glass slide, copy of print held to board with tacks, large log building at left with arched window in center of roof line, other multi-story wooden buildings, yard or park in foreground, unidentified British Columbia or Southeast Alaska town]
22 — [unmounted black-and-white glass slide, copy of print held to board with tacks, original print with markings of Manual Training High School in Denver, tourists on boardwalk next to small river amid tall fir trees, unidentified attraction in Southeast Alaska or British Columbia]
23 — [unmounted black-and-white glass slide, four tourists posed in front of totem poles in park-like setting, picket fence at right, pole at left with blackfish and bear[?], pole at right possibly Wasgo or Susan pole, Sitka]
24 — [partially taped black-and-white lantern slide, view from boat of group of Alaska Native girls in Western dress on dock near gravel pile, other people and buildings in background, unidentified Inside Passage location]
25 — [unmounted black-and-white glass slide, people on boardwalk leading to two-story wooden building, gas light at right, unidentified British Columbia or Southeast Alaska town]
26 — [unmounted black-and-white glass slide, three dogs in harness to pull cart on dock, passengers in background, unidentified Inside Passage location]
27 — [unmounted black-and-white glass slide, three Native children sitting on steps of building, all wearing bib overalls and Western style hates, unidentified Inside Passage location]
28 — [unmounted black-and-white glass slide, men unloading fish barge at dock, Inside Passage, cf. .29]
29 — [unmounted black-and-white glass slide, fish barges at dock, one labeled S. P. P. Co. No. 1 of Ketchikan, Sunny Point Packing Co. boats]
30 — [unmounted black-and-white glass slide, woman in coat with fur stole standing in dense vegetation, Inside Passage]
31 — [unmounted black-and-white glass slide, surveyor in field with theodolite on tripod]
32 — [taped black-and-white lantern slide, man in three-piece suit standing outside next to brick building, same man as in .31?]
33 — [unmounted black-and-white glass slide, steamship near glacier]
34 — [unmounted black-and-white glass slide, steamship near glacier]
35 — [unmounted black-and-white glass slide, steamship near glacier]
36 — [partially taped colored lantern slide, view from across water of glacier in distance]
37 — [partially taped colored lantern slide, close-in view from boat of glacier terminus]
38 — [partially taped colored lantern slide, close-in view from boat of glacier terminus]
39 — [partially taped colored lantern slide, view from across water of glacier in distance, small icebergs in foreground]
40 — Taku Glacier, Alaska. La Roche [on image] [partially taped colored lantern slide, copy of print, close-in view from boat of glacier terminus]
41 — Taku Glacier. E. Andrews, Douglas, Alaska, 215 [on image] [partially taped black-and- white lantern slide, copy of print held to board with thumbtacks, view from across water of glacier in distance]
42 — [partially taped black-and-white lantern slide, view from across water of glacier and mountains in distance, small icebergs in foreground]
43 — Winter & Pond [on image] [partially taped black-and-white lantern slide, copy of print, view from across water of glacier in distance, small icebergs in foreground]
44 — [partially taped black-and-white lantern slide, copy of print held to board with tacks, , close-in view from boat of glacier terminus, icebergs in foreground]
45 — [partially taped colored lantern slide, sunset, Inside Passage]
46 — [partially taped colored lantern slide, moonrise, Inside Passage]
47 — [partially taped black-and-white lantern slide, view of scenery from boat deck, with fir- covered islands, Inside Passage]
48 — [partially taped black-and-white lantern slide, scenery, view from water of fir-covered shore and boat wake, Inside Passage]
49 — [unmounted black-and-white glass slide, view from water of fir-covered shore and snow- capped mountains, Inside Passage]
50 — [partially taped black-and-white lantern slide, view from water of with fir-covered islands, Inside Passage]
51 — [partially taped black-and-white lantern slide, copy of print held to board with tacks, view of scenery from boat deck, with fir-covered islands, Inside Passage]
52 — 2153. Alaskan Huskie and Pups [on image] [black-and-white lantern slide, copy of print held to board with thumbtacks, adult dog with six puppies]
53 — [black-and-white lantern slide, copy of print held to board with thumbtacks, still life with strawberries and ruler for size comparison]
54 — 26. [on image] [black-and-white lantern slide, copy of print held to board with thumbtacks, still life with strawberries in bowl] Guide written: March 6, 2014