Magic lantern - Bad habits


BAD HABITS

In addition to its role as popular entertainment, the magic lantern was also being put to educational purposes. From the 1830's religious and idealistic organisations like the Salvation Army and the Temperance movement used the effectiveness of the magic lantern as a powerful weapon against the evils of drink and other 'bad habits'. Religious foundations opened their own special lantern depots and issued hundreds of slides and lantern readings devoted to their particular cause. Every lantern slide catalogue had its own section of Temperance and other edifying slides.
Drinking A lot of organisations like The Church Army, The Church of England Temperance Society, the Methodist Church, the Salvation Army and the Band of Hope brought the magic lantern in action for their struggle against the evils of drink. One of the most striking contributions to the temperance cause was the well-known series of engravings 'The Bottle', by George Cruickshank, that appeared in a number of lantern slide editions.	Besides Cruickshank's well-known temperance series 'The Bottle', worth mentioning series include 'The Drunkard's Children' which is a sequel to 'The Bottle' story, 'The Gin Fiend', 'The Whiskey Demon', 'Ten Nights in a Bar Room' 'The Drunkard's Career' and the classic series under here: 'Father, dear Father, Come Home'.
	Father, dear father, come Home!

	1. "Father, dear father, come home with me now. The clock in the steeple strikes one."	2. "With poor brother Benny so sick in her arms, And no one to help her but me."	3. "Father, dear father, come home with me now. The clock in the steeple strikes two."

	4. "The night has grown colder and Bennie is worse, And he has been calling for you."	5. "Father, dear father come home with me now. The clock in the steeple strikes three."	6. "We are alone - for poor Bennie is dead, and gone with the angels of light."
	This set of six 3 ¼” x 4” slides was produced by T.H. McAllister, Manufacturing Optician, 49 Nassau Street, N.Y. They tell the touching story of 'Father, Dear Father'. The reverse has 'Economic Series' on the top and bottom.
			Slide in a wooden frame entitled "THE DRUNKARD'S STOMACH 3.-Stomach of The Drunkard" made by T.H. McAllister, c. 1880. Slide is labelled on the spine, and measures 7" x 4".

Gambling 'Hungry, poor, Wretched! Why? Because father will bet!' The slide above is from a single series based on Christian Morality and Temperance Values. It shows drawn images trying to highlight the potential problems of the new disposal income available to men working in the relative affluence of the post industrial revolution. The series is called 'Living Sermons', has the signature of the artist T. Noyes Lewis and was distributed from WMSSU at Ludgate Circus, London.
	The Gambler's Career

	1. The first seeds of the passion.	2. The development of the passion.	3. Always the looser he resorts to false play.

	4. Detected and roughly handled.	5. Having finally lost his all.	6. He ends his life in a madhouse.
	No. 3. FINDING HIMSELF ALWAYS THE LOSER HE RESORTS TO FALSE PLAY. Our friend has now come to that stage where he no longer endeavours to excuse his passion on the score of sociability, but avowedly plays for his opponents; money. He is now an habitual gambler, and resorts to all kinds of places where he can satisfy the craving of his heart. This set of six 3 ¼” x 4” slides was produced by T.H. McAllister, Manufacturing Optician, 49 Nassau Street, N.Y. On the reverse is 'Economic Series' at the top and bottom. The slides are edged in black tape.

Smoking It's clear that in those days smoking was not yet considered to be a 'bad habit'. With just one exception, adult smokers were almost always portrayed as contented, happy people, fully enjoying themselves. Smoking was for sturdy men. The brave soldier played the role of the advertisement cowboy nowadays. For children however the cigar was no good. Sometimes they tried it on the sly, but always they got the punishment that they deserved: tummy-ache, sickness and diarrhoea.			Sometimes one picture can tell the whole story and this is such a picture. The class is smoking and in walks the teacher. The figures are startlingly well characterized: the boys who are sick, the baffled teacher, the experienced smoker and the rest of the gang.


			Naughty boy steals his fathers cigars, feels ill and is discovered by his sister!
	These five British Life Model slides measure 3.25 inches square. The slides date from c.1890s and are hand tinted.
	An Anti-Tobacco Magic Lantern Slide from the 1920s with a representation that would fit perfectly in the 2000s (image on the top of this page). Really a very special early Anti-Tobacco item!		The glass is mounted in a 2 ¼” wide by 3” long compressed cardboard frame and features a Beach Boardwalk Scene. The slide reads “Victor Animatograph Co. Davenport, Iowa, USA” on the front and is marked as being “Slide No. 3642”.