Underwood & Underwood
| Company type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Photography, publishing |
| Founded | January 1, 1881 in Ottawa, Kansas, United States |
| Founder | Elmer Underwood, Bert Elias Underwood |
| Defunct | 1940s |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Stereoscopic images, photographic imagery, news bureau photography |
Number of employees | Not specified |
Underwood & Underwood operated as a creator and distributor of stereoscopic and photographic imagery, eventually becoming a trailblazer in news bureau photography.
History
Established in 1881 in Ottawa, Kansas by siblings Elmer Underwood (1859–1947) and Bert Elias Underwood (1862–1943), the enterprise moved first to Baltimore and subsequently to New York City by 1891. At its height, Underwood & Underwood was recognized as the largest global publisher of stereoviews, producing an estimated 10 million views each year. The founders implemented a direct sales approach utilizing college students as canvassers and distributed stereographs for firms such as Charles Bierstadt, J.F. Jarvis, and the Littleton View Company. By 1887, their operations expanded internationally with offices in Canada and Europe, including a London branch located at 104 High Holborn.
In 1891, Bert Underwood acquired photographic skills, initiating in-house image production. By 1897, the company employed both permanent and freelance photographers and absorbed competitors including Jarvis, Bierstadt, and William H. Rau. Daily stereograph output reached approximately 25,000 units by 1901. The firm also documented significant events like the Second Boer War and introduced themed boxed collections around 1900 that catered to educational, religious, and travel audiences.
Entering the decade of 1910, Underwood & Underwood diversified into news photography while gradually scaling back stereograph manufacturing until the onset of World War I. Prior to ceasing stereograph production in 1920, the company had produced between 30,000 and 40,000 stereographic titles. Subsequently, it sold its inventory and intellectual property rights to the Keystone View Company, which reissued images marked with a "V" prefix indicating their Underwood provenance.
During 1924–25, the company pioneered vertically controlled aerial photography over Miami and Miami Beach amid their early development surge. This project generated roughly 400 high-resolution photographs capturing the region’s expansion before it was heavily impacted by the Great Hurricane of 1926.
Underwood & Underwood concluded its business activities in the 1940s.
Modern appreciation of early stereoviews
Originally viewed through various types of stereoscope, stereoviews have been adapted for contemporary three-dimensional technologies. A notable example is Anaglyph 3D, which employs complementary color filters—commonly red and cyan—to encode separate images for each eye. When observed through corresponding color-filtered glasses, this technique produces a stereoscopic illusion that enables depth perception.
Collections
The Smithsonian Institution maintains the Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereophonic Collection, comprising approximately 28,000 glass plates that include stereoscopic negatives and associated materials.
Works by Underwood & Underwood are also preserved within leading cultural institutions around the globe, such as:
- The American University in Cairo
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Brigham Young University
- The British Museum
- Conway Library, The Courtauld Institute of Art, London
- Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY
- J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- MoMA, New York
- National Portrait Gallery, London
- Science Museum, London
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
External links
- Example stereographic images
- World War I photographic collection
- Digital Library of Rare Books and Special Collections at the American University in Cairo: Underwood & Underwood Egypt Stereoviews Archive
- The Underwood & Underwood Collection, 1899–1908, held by the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center