Unfortunately, the library’s time machine has been out of order for some months and is proving difficult to repair, so at the moment we can’t actually arrange a real visit to 1960s Birmingham for you. However, thanks to a recent donation, we can do the next best thing. The donation includes over a hundred 3D pictures taken by local man Frank Easton during the late 1960s when the city was undergoing major reconstruction. Look at the pictures using a simple hand viewer and you get a much greater feeling of ‘actually being there’ than you do when you look at an ordinary flat photograph. If you like, it’s an early form of virtual reality!
Let’s provide a bit of background. Virtual reality may seem very new and modern but 3D photography – one of the main ingredients of virtual reality systems even today – has been around since Victorian times. In the late 19th Century, 3D pictures were popular as a way for people to ‘visit’ places they couldn’t afford to travel to. After the First World War, 3D photography fell out of favour but, when colour film became readily available in the 1950s, there was another surge of interest and many companies produced stereoscopic (3D) cameras like the one in the picture.
Frank Easton, who lived in Acocks Green, bought one of these cameras and used it to produce a 3D record of the fast changing city. He was well placed to do this as he worked for British Rail and was based in Birmingham. Judging by his pictures, he used his lunch breaks and evenings to good effect and, of course, his railway connections meant he had excellent opportunities to take 3D pictures of the dramatic changes being made to New Street Station.
Unfortunately, due to copyright restrictions, we can’t show you any of Frank’s pictures here but if you visit the Wolfson Centre at the Library of Birmingham you can enjoy them all in full colour 3D.
What can you expect to see? As has already been suggested, there’s an extensive sequence of pictures showing work at New Street Station. Marvel at the seeming total lack of health and safety measures; huge girders are being craned into place while children watch just a few feet away! You can also take a peek into Rackham’s Christmas window, see real jet aircraft in the old (1960s) Bull Ring, admire King Kong in the Manzoni Gardens, check out the Christmas lights in Smallbrook Ringway, watch the progress of the Rotunda as it’s being built, and much, much more.
Sadly, Frank Easton died in 1984 but his family had the foresight to realise that his 3D record of Birmingham’s post-war transformation was probably unique, and certainly worth preserving. As a result, you can now enjoy his 3D photographs simply by making an appointment in the Wolfson Centre and requesting MS 5079.
Keith Wilson
The Iron Room 