Michael Lehr Antiques
Live Auction

June 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction

Wed, Jun 24, 2026 11:00AM EDT
  2026-06-24 11:00:00 2026-06-24 11:00:00 America/New_York Michael Lehr Michael Lehr : June 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction https://auction.michaellehrantiques.com/auctions/michael-lehr-antiques/june-2026-vernacular-photo-history-auction-23574
Our June 2026 auction presents a focused and exceptional selection of historical photographs spanning the 1840s through the early twentieth century, with unusual depth in named subjects, rare formats, and documented provenance anchored by strong vernacular material that rewards close looking.
Michael Lehr Antiques info@michaellehrantiques.com
Lot 586

Stereoviews, Pennsylvania Coal Mining Operations, Keystone View Co

Estimate: $50 - $100
Starting Bid
$25

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$100 $10
$200 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $5,000
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
Ten stereoviews published by the Keystone View Company document Pennsylvania anthracite coal mining operations across multiple sites, primarily in and around Scranton. The silver gelatin cards carry printed series numbers including 75, 76, 78, and 779, placing them within Keystone's extensive industrial documentation series produced in the early twentieth century. Subjects visible across the group include miners posed underground with cap lamps, coal breaker interiors, open-pit stripping operations at Hazleton, a panoramic view from a coal breaker at Hyde Park, conveyor lines, and miners' wives and children picking coal from a dump at Scranton.

Each card bears the full Keystone View Company imprint along the left border listing manufacturer locations including Meadville, New York, London, Sydney, and Portland. Caption text printed along the lower margins identifies specific locations and subjects, including anthracite mining at Shenandoah and a loaded car of coal near the head of a breaker ready to be dumped at Scranton. Worker figures throughout wear dark work clothes, and industrial machinery including sorting tables, conveyor belts, and ore cars appears in multiple views.

Keystone View Company, founded in Meadville, Pennsylvania in 1892 by B.L. Singley, became one of the largest producers of educational stereoviews in the world, and its industrial series documenting American labor and manufacturing were widely distributed to schools and libraries.

Caption text and series numbers are printed on card faces and borders as described above.

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