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academy

of stereoscopic

arts & sciences

Academy of Stereoscopic by Kent Oppenhei
1951 Academy of Sterescopic Arts and Sci
1951 Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences boxed set
1951 Academy StereOscar- Bombing Scene b
1951 Academy StereOscar - BOMBING SCENE
by Harry Abrahams, Chicago, IL winner
1951  Academy StereOscar- Desert Fantasy
1951 Academy StereOscar-
DESERT FANTASY

by Karl Struss, Los Angeles, CA winner
1951  Academy StereOscar- Desert Fantasy
1951 Academy StereOscar -
SNOW PLANT 

by Robert Haven, Oxnard, CA winner
1951  Academy StereOscar- Forest Primeva
1951 Academy StereOscar -
FOREST PRIMEVAL

by Vera Haven, Oxnard CA winner
1951 Academy StereOscar- Navajo Sheep Te
1951 Academy StereOscar -
NAVAJO SHEEP TENDERS

by Conrad Hodnik, Chicago IL winner
1951 Academy StereOscar- Catalina at Daw
1951%2520Academy%2520Award%2520Winners-1
1952_02_28 Dorothy Hart presenting Stere
1951%2520Academy%2520Award%2520Winners-2
1951%20Academy%20of%20Stereoscopic%20Art
1951 Academy StereOscar -
CATALINA AT DAWN

by Margaret McGraw, Los Angeles CA  winner
1951 Academy StereOscar- A GI Conquers F
1951 Academy StereOscar -
A GI CONQUERS MT. FUJI

by Robert Newcomer winner
1955%20Josie%20Oppenheimer%20helping%20t
 Josie Oppenheimer helping to hand out the StereOscars at Beverly Hills camera club by Kent Oppenheimer
1951 Academy StereOscar- Desert Safari b
1951 Academy StereOscar -
DESERT SAFARI

by Karl Struss, Los Angeles, CA winner
1951 Academy StereOscar-3-Dimensional Pa
1951 Academy StereOscar -
3-DIMENSIONAL PAINTING

by Tommy Thomas, Los Angeles, CA winner
1955 Josie Oppenheimer handing out the S
 Josie Oppenheimer handing out the StereOscars awards at Beverly Hills camera club 2 by Kent Oppenheimer
1951  Academy StereOscar- Mt Rainier by
1951 Academy Award Winners-4.jpg
1951 Academy StereOscar -
MT RAINIER

by Lt John Hodgkin, Selma CA Merit winner
1951 Academy StereOscar- Jumping Porpois
1951 Academy StereOscar -
JUMPING PORPOISE 11 ft jump

by Albert L Walls, Culver City CA - Honorable Mention
1955 Josie Oppenheimer handing out the S
 Josie Oppenheimer handing out the StereOscars awards at Beverly Hills camera club 3 by Kent Oppenheimer
1952  Academy StereOscar- Spring Symphon
1952  Academy StereOscar winner -
OLYMPIC CASCADE

by Robert A Haven, Oxnard CA 
Academy of Stereo picture from Stereo Re
1951 Academy Award Winners-6.jpg
1951 Academy Award Winners-5.jpg
1951 Academy Award Winners-7.jpg
1951 Academy Award Winners-9.jpg

Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences

by Susan Pinsky and David Starkman 

 

3-D Legends was created to honor and share information about people who have contributed in some significant or interesting way to the history of stereoscopy AND who have passed away. The Academy of Stereoscopic Arts and Sciences was not a person, but it was a short-lived 3-D organization that seems almost totally forgotten. For that reason, we want to devote a section to this "deceased" group here, on this website.

 

Most of what we know about this group is from a commercially sold box of stereo slides labeled "1951 Academy Award Winners -- The 10 greatest stereo color slides of the world for the year 1951, as judged by the Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences, Hollywood, California".

 

The box contained ten Stereo Realist format duplicates, along with a descriptive brochure.

 

That brochure states "On the evening of February 28, 1952, the Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences held its first International Premiere at a banquet sponsored by the Beverly Hills Stereo Club, at the Gourmet restaurant in Beverly Hills, California".

 

Under "General Information" it states that "the Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences is a non-profit institution, and exists for two purposes: 1: To search the world for the 10 Greatest stereo pictures of each year. and 2: to make these ten Academy Award winning stereo pictures available to commercial marketers of color slides so that stereo fans throughout the world can enjoy seeing and having them. Royalties will be paid to the winners of stereo slides sold."

 

In a 1954 letter to an Award winner, on the organization letterhead, the officers were listed as follows: President: Paul G. Horner, Vice President: Stanley Cooley, Secretary: John M. Horner, Chairman Award Committee: Howard Butts, Technical Advisors: H.C. McKay, Eustis Florida, Arthur W. Judge, London England.

​

The address on the letterhead is listed at 6112 Selma Avenue, Hollywood 28, California. Searching ads from 1950s photo magazines, that is the same address as Horner-Cooley Productions, Inc. This company advertised the sale of "Award Winning Stereo Slides", stereo slide mounts, and a stereo slide viewer. This would lead us to suspect that there was a commercial motive behind the creation of the Academy of Stereoscopic Arts and Sciences.

 

At the same time, the awards were given at a banquet of the Beverly Hills Stereo Club. This club is not to be confused with "The Stereo Club of Southern California" (SCSC), which started in 1955 and still meets monthly. However, that name has since been changed to the L.A. 3D Club (www.la3dclub.com ). This is mentioned just to clarify and differentiate the two organizations.  

 

We knew the late Ruby Steins, one of the former Beverly Hills Stereo Club members, back in the 1980's and, from her, we got some issues of "The Beverly Hills Stereo-Scope", that club's newsletter.

 

Vol 1, No. 1 is dated September 1952. The By-Laws are dated March 1952, so we might guess that this was around the formation date of this club. The latest date of any literature we have from this club is a meeting announcement for January 1958, where they met at the Cheviot Hills Playground Auditorium in West Los Angeles.

 

Around 1958 seems to be when the last meetings of the Beverly Hills Stereo Club occurred. At it's peak, this club that had many celebrity members, including Harold Lloyd, Bob Cummings, Art Linkletter, and many famous actors and actresses of the day. We suspect that Harold Lloyd was a driving force in getting these celebrity members, and that, after a short while, only a smaller number of actors and actresses continued the   3-D hobby. We know that Art Linkletter and his wife continued to use a Kodak Stereo Camera, and Alan Young ("Mr. Ed), Ray Walston ("My Favorite Martian") and Roger Smith ("77 Sunset Strip" and husband of Ann Margret) were customers of our mail order company Reel 3-D Enterprises in the 1980's, still buying products to use their 1950's stereo cameras.

 

As for "the Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences", in spite of it's stated goals as being a non-profit organization, the Horner-Cooley address, and Misters Horner and Cooley being the President and Vice President of the organization, belies that statement!

 

One of our contacts has a letter dated 1954, written to a winner of an award for that year, along with copies of the brochures for the First and Second Annual Awards. The letter states that he was a winner in the Third Annual Awards. So, between 1951 and 1954, there appear to have been three award years. We have no documentation to indicate otherwise.

 

These slides and brochures seem to be pretty rare. Also, we would love to see an actual "StereOscar". Today, we figure the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences would probably sue anyone trying to use names so similar to their organization and award!

 

Before he passed away, we were friends with Kent Oppenheimer, who was a commercial architectural photographer. Kent was also a 3-D photographer in the early 1950s and 60s, and was an active member of the Beverly Hills Stereo Club. When he passed away we inherited all of his 3-D slides, and among them were pictures of one of the Awards ceremonies, with his beautiful wife, Josie, handing out the StereOscars. We are happy to be able to share some of them here, along with copies of the Award winning slides.

 

Thank you to Ron Labbe, David Walsh, Andy Allison, Lawrence Kaufman and the late Sheldon Aronowitz for supplying source materials. 

​

1951 Academy Award Winners-8.jpg
1951 Academy Award Winners-10.jpg
1951 Academy Award Winners-11.jpg
1951 Academy Award Winners-12.jpg
1954_10_24 Envelope from Academy of Ster
1954_10_24 Letter from Academy of Stereo
Academy%20of%20Stereoscopic%20Officers%2
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts First and S
1951 and 1952  Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences brochures (this is the best we have. If you have some others we'd love to have copies.) 
1951_10 Popular Science Magazine ad for
1951 October Popular Science magazine ad for Horner-Cooley 
1954_05_07%20Chicago%20Daily%20Tribune%2
1954 May 7 Chicago Daily Tribune,  courtesy of Andy Allison
1952%2520Ruby%2520Steins%2520Beverly%252
1952_03_05 Los Angeles Times, courtesy o
1952 Mar 5 Los Angeles Times, courtesy of Andy Allison
1953_06_12 Chicago Tribune, Local fans w
1953 June 3 Chicago Tribune, courtesy of Andy Allison
1952 Academy Winner  - A BUTTERFLIES WOR
1952 Ruby Steins Beverly Hills Stereo Cl
1952%20Academy%20Winner%20A%20BUTTERFLIE
1952 Academy StereOscar Winner
A BUTTERFLY'S WORLD

by Howard W Butts 
1952 Academy Winner ROMAN CANDLE LIGHT b
1959 Cary Grant holding a Stereo Realist
1959 Cary Grant holding a Stereo Realist camera
1952 Academy StereOscar Winner
ROMAN CANDLE LIGHT

by Murray Korda 
1953 Academy Winner LEAVES & BUTTERFLIES
1953 Academy StereOscar Winner
LEAVES & BUTTERFLIES

by Alvin E Phillips 
1953%20Academy%20Winner%20THE%20SPHINX%2
1953 Academy StereOscar Winner
THE SPHINX

by Geraldine Viskocil 
Alfred Hitchcock holding a Stereo Realis
Alfred Hitchcock holding a Stereo Realist camera
General Dwight D Eisenhower happy with h
1952 General Dwight D Eisenhower using his Stereo Realist camera
1953 Academy Winner YOSEMITE DEER by Alb
1953 Academy StereOscar Winner
YOSEMITE DEER

by Albert Walls, Culver City, CA
1952 Academy Merit THE MASTERS TOUCH_edi
1952 Academy Merit Award 
THE MASTERS TOUCH

maker unknown
1952 Academy StereOscar Mt Shuksan by Ro
1952 Academy StereOscar
MT SHUKSAN

by Ross R Matthews, Seattle, WA winner
Sunset Blvd direcotr Billy Wilder & star
Sunset Blvd director Billy Wilder and film star William Holden enjoying the third dimension
1953 John Meredith and Penny Edwards in
1952 Academy HM Mule Deer by Louis Damma
1952 Academy Honorable Mention
ELK STATUE

by Louis Dammann, Egg Harbor City, NJ 
1952 Academy Award Winner Bridge Painter
1952 Academy StereOscar Award Winner 
by unknown at this time
1952 Academy Award of Merit ASPHALT JUNG
1952 Academy StereOscar Award of Merit
ASPHALT JUNGLE
1952 Academy Award of Merit Winter Artis
1952 Academy StereOscar Award of Merit
WINTER ARTISTRY
1952 Academy Award of Merit HOME OF LINC
1952 Academy StereOscar Award of Merit
HOME OF LINCOLN
1952 Academy Award of Merit TEXTURE OF W
1952 Academy StereOscar Award of Merit
TEXTURE OF WATER
1952 Academy Award Winner TIDAL POOL by
1952 Academy StereOscar Award Winner
TIDAL POOL
by Kim Clark

UNIDENTIFIED ADDITIONAL IMAGES:

The following group of slides are

from the collection of Jerry Walter, FPSA and Rick Finney, FPSA.

They are not individually captioned because they did not have descriptive labels on them, only numbers. However, they are mounted in exactly the same type of mounts as most of the other Academy of Stereoscopic Arts and Sciences stereo slides that we have seen. In addition, some of the slides in this collection were duplicates of ones that we already had information on.

 

We hope that some people who see these slides may recognize them, and have information on the photographers names, and slide title, so that we can add to the captions. If you have information about these images please send it to archivesusie3d@gmail.com. Thank you!

Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finney collection _01
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finney collection _01a
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finney collection _02
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finney collection _02a
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finney collection _04
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences
1952 Academy StereOscar Award Winner
GOLDEN HARVEST  by H.J. DuBois
from Jerry Walter & Rick Finney collection 
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finney collection _07
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finney collection _08
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finney collection _08a
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finney collection _09
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finney collection _10
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finney collection _11
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finney collection _12
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finney collection _14
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences
1952 Academy StereOscar Award Winner
MERMAID by T.C. Lagerberg
from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finney collection 
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finney collection _15
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finney collection _16
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finney collection _17
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finney collection _19
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finney collection _20
Temple of the Sun, Carlsbad Caverns NM b
Temple of the Sun, Carlsbad Caverns NM
by Grace and Tex Helm
__Alfred Hitchcock holding a Stereo Realist camera-Colorized_2x1.jpg
Alfred Hitchcock holding a Stereo Realist camera - Colorized
__Paul Hesse  Marlene Dietrich from the collection of Susan Pinsky  David Starkman-Coloriz
Paul Hesse and Marlene Dietrich from the collection
of Susan Pinsky and David Starkman - Colorized
__Nancy Olson at Warner Theatre 3 from the collection of Susan Pinsky  David Starkman-Colo
1953 John Meredith and Penny Edwards in Professional Photographer magazine image Feb Realist ad
Paul Hesse  Marlene Dietrich from the co
Paul Hesse and Marlene Dietrich 
Randolph Scott with Stereo Realist camer
Randolph Scott with Stereo Realist camera 
Charlton Heston Stereo Realist ad.jpg
1952 Hollywood 3d club by Jerry Holscher
1952 Hollywood 3d club by Jerry Holscher 8609 Sunset Strip LA CA 11 - Colorized
1952 Hollywood 3d club by Jerry Holscher
1952 Hollywood 3d club by Jerry Holscher
1952 Hollywood 3d club by Jerry Holscher
1952 Hollywood 3d club 2-Colorized.jpg
1952 Hollywood 3d club by Jerry Holscher
1952 Hollywood 3d club by Jerry Holscher
1952 Hollywood 3d club 4-Colorized.jpg
1952 Hollywood 3d club by Jerry Holscher
1952 Hollywood 3d club by Jerry Holscher
1952 Hollywood 3d club by Jerry Holscher
1952 Hollywood 3d Li John Bromfield Art
1952 Hollywood 3d Li John Bromfield, Art Linkletter, Corrine Calvet Bromfield by Jerry Holscher 8609 Sunset Strip LA CA 15-Colorized
1952 Paul Hesse and Irene Dunne-Colorize
1952 Paul Hesse and Irene Dunne-Colorized
1952 Hollywood 3d club by Jerry Holscher
Stereo%20Realist%20viewer%20designed%20b
Stereography sweeps the country- Popular
Realist%20projector%20with%20lights%20on
Realist%20projector%20back_edited.png
Nancy Olson at Warner Theatre 3 from the collection
of Susan Pinsky  David Starkman - Colorized
Realist_ads_Tommy Thomas prize winner 12
Bridge Painters by Arthur Pfeifer 1952 Academy Award Winner.jpg
1952 Academy StereOscar Award Winner
BRIDGE PAINTERS
by Arthur Pfeifer
False Hellebore by H.W. Butts, West Salem, OR 1951 Academy Merit Winner.jpg
1951 Academy StereOscar Merit Winner
FALSE HELLEBORE
by H.W. Butts, West Salem, OR
Nude by unknown maker 1952 Academy Merit Winner.jpg
1952 Academy StereOscar Merit Winner (name unknown)
by unknown
Medieval Armor by Arthur W. Judge, London, England 1951 Academy Merit Winner.jpg
1951 Academy StereOscar Merit Winner
MEDIEVAL ARMOR
by Arthur W. Judge, London, England
Nature's Roadblock by Conrad Hodnik - 1952 Winner.jpg
1952 Academy StereOscar Award Winner
NATURE'S ROADBLOCK
by Conrad Hodnik, Chicago, IL
Unknown item on tree trunk by unknown maker 1952 Academy Merit Winner.jpg
1952 Academy StereOscar Merit Winner (title unknown)
by unknown
Snowing on Monroe Street by Earl E. Krause, Chicago, IL 1951 Academy Merit Winner.jpg
1951 Academy StereOscar Merit Winner
SNOWING ON MONROE STREET
by Earl E. Krause, Chicago, IL
Bird Feeding Young by Tom H. Kent, Iowa City, IA 1951 Academy Merit Winner.jpg
1951 Academy StereOscar Merit Winner
BIRD FEEDING YOUNG
by Tom H. Kent, Iowa City, IA
Cardinal by Tom H. Kent, Iowa City, IA 1952 Academy Award Winner.jpg
1952 Academy StereOscar Award Winner
CARDINAL
by Tom H. Kent, Iowa City, IA
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finne
Academy of Stereoscopic Arts & Sciences from the collection of Jerry Walter and Rick Finney collection _05
Bahama Islands at Sundown by Karl Struss
1951 Academy StereOscar Merit Winner
BAHAMA ISLANDS AT SUNET
by Karl Struss, Hollywood, CA
1952 Cecil B. de Mille - Holiday.jpg
1953 - Doris Day Holiday_edited.jpg
1951 Edgar Bergen - Holiday_edited.jpg
Stereo Realist camera on Kentech slide b
Two women looking into Roto Vuer viewers-Colorized.jpg
Realist camers users - four men-Colorized.jpg

Hopefully, there is more to come on this page in the future.
As of August 2022 this is all we have. We welcome all related additions. Email archivesusie3d@gmail.com

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Box 6x4 your 3D images are welcome box with bars.jpg
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