A quick dash to the Pool, and the extraordinary, very 19th century madness of John Merrill, who lived at the White Mountain pool for four decades giving “rides” over its small expanse.

John Merrill in the early to mid 1860s (from a Bierstadt Bros stereoview). An 1862 edition of the Yale Literary Magazine explains that Merrill believed “the earth was a hollow sphere, inhabited on the inside, as well as the outside.”

The development of this little spot lines up nicely with the beginnings of photography, especially the tourist oriented collectible format known as the stereoview. Never mind that the cards, about 3 1/2 by 7 inches, are more 3D than Avatar (they really are). They are photographic windows to another era, one not well documented in larger sizes or by amateurs.

I’m a photo historian, and what piques my interest here is how these incidental-seeming photographs offer a look into this new phenomenon of the American tourist. Niagara Falls was just being developed, as were the Catskills and accessible parts of Maine. All of these areas were “explored,” east of the Mississippi, but there was a lag between exploration and tourism, a few years at least, sometimes decades.

Merrill and an extended trouist group, from a Kilburn Bros. card c. 1872.

Nearby the Pool, which is really just a pretty, dark spot of water with a small waterfall running into it, was the Flume, and near to that were stage lines, and later the rail lines. Today you can get to both by car, in a jiffy, but you’ll still have to walk a few minutes in, just enough to shed a century or two in your head.

Many of the earliest photographers (from the early to mid 1860s) used slightly more square or even vertical images that didn’t extend, as a pair, as far horizontally, as shown here in this Soule view, probably 1863 or so (even as the Civil War raged further south). Soule views often had both images printed on a single piece of albumen paper, as shown. The overlapping center strip doesn’t really show up when looking at the card in a viewer. Note also the simple off white mount, which is typical of the earliest American cards, before yellow and then orange became the color du jour.

The scale of the site is deceptive--the boulders are large--but it’s mostly impressive for its dark, clear depth.

Mr. Merrill and his forbearing wife (or so we presume...maybe it was her idea?)...a John Soule view. This is probably a Soule reprint c. 1872 of his own images made more likely in 1865 or earlier.

A later “publication” of what seems to be a J.W. & J.S. Moulton view, originally c.1874. Note that most later views have a single photographic print pasted on the board (no gap between the left and right images) because they were made from copy negatives of the original card, sometimes with crude captions pasted in the negative as shown.

The photographers? Mostly regional tradesmen, artists at heart but generally struggling to make ends meet. The most famous was Albert Bierstadt, the gifted German immigrant who, with his two brothers, made up the early stereoview collaborative known as the Bierstadt Bros. They photographed Massachusetts and the White Mountains, before splintering (with some uncertain chronology) into three separate careers. Albert became the painter he is famous for, his brother Charles continued the stereography, and the third brother, Edward, moved into high end photographic printing (using a printing press).

Some tourists in Merrill’s boat...I don’t see the “Arctic Professor” in this Kilburn Bros. view, c. 1870

The most prolific photographer? This is a tie, I’d say. The Kilburn Bros photographed New Hampshire and beyond with obsessive and sometimes repetitive zeal, and they, from my knowledge, have the greatest number of different views. But a local man, the peculiar H.S. Fifield, lived nearby at the Flume every summer for years, just to make money photographing tourists during their brief visits (like tourist photographers still do now at some sites). He photographed the Pool frequently, though his Flume views seem to number in the 100s.

Merrill and his wife in a Weller view (Weller was a competitor mostly to the Kilburns) c 1872

Why a web site on this trivia? As a kernel of verifiable truth (maybe). The borrowing or buying (or pirating) of negatives from one photographer to another can be looked at more clearly here by removing a lot of other variables. And each photographer’s particular format--both photographic style and printing and publishing method--is visible. The site even has the threat of being comprehensive. I’m guessing there are a hundred distinct views of the pool from 1850 to 1900, and I’ve just incidentally gathered half of them that include Merrill. A few appear on this page.

A Kilburn Bros. view showing Merrill’s little parasol, the card is c. 1872

A lesser known photographer, O. R. Wilkinson, showing two men on the rocks, c/ 1875...note the less polished cutting and pasting of the two images onto the card

If you think you have a great view and are willing to send a nice scan or photograph, write me at wmjaeger@gmail.com. It’s a labor of love, nothing less, nothing more. And decidedly minor stuff. So give it a quick breeze and carry on.

Merrill in a Kilburn Bros. view, showing in part how small the Pool really is.

Stereoview Madness home page (click)