If you think the phenomenon of 3D movies is a recent one, an expert in the genre says 3D has been around for about 160 years.

Frank Elmore is a movie maker based in California, and he will be in Hannibal this weekend for the first Big River Steampunk Festival.

One of the purposes of the festival is to celebrate the Victorian era. According to Elmore, 3D photography was in its heyday in the 1880s, with something called "stereopticons," being very popular. Later generations remember the Viewmaster viewers, which also featured 3D pictures of various sorts.

Elmore will conduct a workshop on 3D photography in the late 19th century on Saturday, August 30 at the Hannibal History Museum. And, he will spend the weekend shooting 3D video of the all the activities during the Steampunk Festival, with a DVD of the weekend a possibility.

The Big River Steampunk Festival invades downtown Hannibal Saturday and Sunday, August 30 and 31.

Frank Elmore and Lisa Marks of the Hannibal History Museum were guests on KHMO's Talk Back:

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