Oban, Argyleshire

Wilson photographed a number of views of the bay in Oban with, amongst other buildings, hotels that were frequented by the growing numbers of tourists to the town. This is a stereoscopic photograph of the town that gave a three-dimensional view when viewed through a stereoscope. Wilson often included hotels in his photographs and his promotion of them was twofold; the hoteliers stood to gain from the publicity, as did Wilson, whose photographs were sold at the hotels. In his description of Oban in Photographs of English and Scottish Scenery, Wilson mentions the vast choice of hotels available to tourists in the town:

It has ample accommodation for tourists, being provided with three first-class hotels - the Great Western, Caledonian, and Craig-Ard-each of which are conducted in such a way as to insure [sic] the comfort of those who may patronise them.

George Washington Wilson, Photographs of English and Scottish Scenery