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Our evening turned out to be something different with the speaker, Mr. Barry Davis, not giving a formal talk but more a performance from the past. We were treated to a kaleidoscope of sample magic lantern shows.
The origins of the lantern have been placed in the late 17th Century by some but the real start was in mid-Victorian times. At that time illumination was by acetylene which gave a very bright light capable of projecting pictures along a large hall or auditorium.
The selection of slides was determined by the purpose of the event. Sometimes the slides were home produced for personal entertainment, others were professional and often for commercial purposes.
Slide shows for instruction There were historical themes, collections based around famous people or events. Medical slides were shown for instruction. The Temperance societies used the shows for propaganda against the evils of drink.
Many collections and shows were humorous often telling a story and this aspect was well illustrated by an eight slide collection about two travelers who escaped from a tier by tying it's tail through a barrel only to return a year later to find lots of tigers similarly adorned.
The church made use of the lantern. As well as being used to tell the stories from the bible, particularly the Life of Christ, services could be enlivened by hymn sheets, sometimes complete with music, being projected for the congregation to sing from. They also had slides of prayers. Itinerant preachers took their service/show around the villages staying a few days before moving on.
Although the slides were many static movement was achieved by combining slides in an arrangement which allowed them to be either rotated or slid across each the creating movement. Some pattern effects were created this way as well as comic effects, one of which had a sleeping man swallowing mouse after mouse.
As a form of entertainment the magic lantern was the forerunner of the cinema, providing escape for the masses. The arrival of moving pictures may have restricted the demand for slide shows but the system clung on well into the twentieth century with cinemas using the medium to advertise forthcoming attractions, local events and local businesses.
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