Spending too much time in photo archives, I would often come across prints that looked like duplicates, like this famous picture of Mark Twain or this one of Roosevelt in Yellowstone. I did not think much of them, assuming that was just an industry standard that photographers used back then for copies – I learned recently however that these were special prints called stereographs, and when viewed with proper glasses would produce a crude 3D effect (it is essentially the same concept behind the View-Master, a toy that many of us probably had when we were kids).
The Library of Congress maintains large collections of stereographs, including many from the early 20th century when it was a big industry for photographers. Some favorites:
Along the walk, Brooklyn Bridge, New York
Venice, from across the Lagoon at S. Giorgio Maggiore, Italy
Major General Chaffee, China
Harvesting Indian River pineapples, Florida, USA
The Ginza (looking north) the most important thoroughfare in Tokyo, Japan
Steel ocean-going tug, New York Harbor, most powerful of its kind in USA
Place de la Bastille, Paris, France
Westminster Bridge and the House of Parliament, London, England
Mexican troops before the Hall of Congress, City of Mexico
Making “pure Havanas,” the world’s most famous cigars, largest factory of Havana, Cuba
The Cathedral and Campanile (178 ft. high, leans 13 ft.), Pisa, Italy
The stereograph as an educator
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