Whimsical Stereo Cards From the Victorian Era Show How Different the Courtship Process Used to Be

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These vintage stereo cards from the late 19th and early 20th centuries vary from the romantic to the humorous. From preparing to spank their partner to suggestively holding a butter-churning handle, they show the quaint history of love from courtship to marriage in a bygone age.

The photos appear to have all been taken in the United States, judging from the clothing and names on the original copyrights, which include E. W. Kelley – whose Chicago-based publishing office dealt in stereographs; H. C. White, who produced stereo cards in a small factory in Vermont; and R. Y. Young who established the American Stereoscopic Company circa 1896.

Stereo cards were invented in the mid-19th century. When pairs of them were viewed through a binocular apparatus, known as a stereoscope, it created a 3D effect.