Founded by B.L. Singly in Meadville, Pennsylvania in 1892 as a photographic image producer and distributor. In 1930, Keystone View Company reached its height of popularity but was purchased in 1963 by Mast Development Company when lantern slides became obsolete.

Underwood and Underwood was established in 1882 by Bert and Elmer Underwood in Ottawa, Kansas. Originally they distributed stereographs made by eastern photographers in the Western United States. In 1884, they had expanded their franchise across North America and by 1889 opened offices in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and Liverpool, England. By 1890 Underwood & Underwood began publishing original stereographs taken by Bert Underwood. Underwood & Underwood was considered one of the most successful stereoscope publishers in North America in 1901.Underwood & Underwood began producing 25,000 views per day and 300,000 stereoscopes annually. It is suggested that in the earlier years of the company, Underwood & Underwood used H.C. White Company’s stereoscope model until developing their own. The principle stereoscope design by Underwood & Underwood included aluminum hoods, cardholders, and a folding handle. An easy identifiable feature of Underwood & Underwood stereoscopes is the friction joint built to fold the handle.

In 1910 the firm began specialising in news photography, ultimately stopping production of stereographs in 1920. Between 1912 and 1925 the company would sell the entirety of their glass stereo collection to competitor Keystone View Co.. By 1925 both brothers retired, leading to the reorganization of the company into four independent organisations all staying beneath the title of "Underwood & Underwood." These four branches included Underwood & Underwood Illustration Studios of New York, Chicago and Detroit; Underwood & Underwood Portraits, Inc., New York, Philadelphia and Cleveland; Underwood & Underwood, Washington and Chicago; Underwood & Underwood News Photos, Inc., New York.

Lorne Shields has been an avid collector of bicycles and bicycle ephemera since 1967, and was employed for many years as a bicycle wholesaler. His passion for bicycles led him to collect photographs on the subject as well as books, magazines, and bicycle memorabilia. He soon began collecting photography as its own pursuit, and joined the Photographic Historical Society of Canada in 1994. He has lectured widely on the history of bicycle photography, often showcasing his own collection of images. His photographic collection contains much more than bicycle imagery, however and the resulting collection represents a variety of photographic types.

In 1980 he donated much of his Cycling Collection to the Canada Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa, Ontario. In 2007, Lorne Shields donated a part of his photographic collection (mainly those images not pertaining to bicycles) to Special Collections at Ryerson University Library. Many of his bicycle photographs remain in his possession and he continues to actively collect.

Lorne Shield's collection of bicycle photography was featured in the exhibition From Scorchers to Alley Cat Scrambles at The Market Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, from May 20 to October 1, 2006 and in a lecture by Donald Zaldin entitled ?Getting it in Gear: The Revolutionary Impact of the Bicycle on 19th Century Culture? in the Ephemera Society of America?s March 2007 conference Ephemera/27.