We picture a stereo view on orange mount, taken in an upstate New York location sometime in 1864. A bunch of town folks are assembled in front of a large balloon that is decorated with a hand-painted portrait of President Lincoln front & center. We don’t know if the proprietor offered rides for a fee, or operated an “ascension” in conjunction with a day’s entertainment at a campaign rally. We vaguely recall seeing a similar view at auction decades ago. That view, if memory serves, showed the balloon in a large open field. Observation balloons were used in the Civil War with the approval of President Lincoln.