Magic lantern - Temperance stories part 1.

	Temperance stories, part 1.
Father, dear father, come home with me now...

Father, dear father, come home with me now,
The clock in the steeple strikes one;
You said you were coming right home from the shop
As soon as your day's work was done;
Our fire has gone out, our house is all dark,
And mother's been watching since tea,
With poor brother Benny so sick in her arms
And no one to help her but me,
Come home! come home! come home!
Please father, dear father, come home.

Melody and Text: - Henry Clay Work

The temperance movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries was an organized effort to encourage moderation in the consumption of intoxicating liquors or press for complete abstinence. It's not amazing that movement's ranks were mostly filled by women who, with their children, had endured the effects of unbridled drinking by many of their menfolk. Alcohol was also blamed for many of society's demerits, among them severe health problems, destitution and crime. At first, they used moral suasion to address the problem.

The earliest organizations in Europe came into being in Ireland in the 1820s and soon swept to Scotland and Britain. In the United States, a pledge of abstinence had been promulgated by various preachers at the beginning of the 1800s. Temperance associations were established in New York and Massachusetts. Thanks largely to the lead from the pulpit, some 6,000 local temperance groups in many states were up and running by the 1830s.

The best-known temperance effort since the movement's heyday has been Alcoholics Anonymous. This widespread and venerable organization advocates total abstinence, but treats alcoholism as a disease and does not seek governmental control of the liquor industry.

The temperance movement was always willingly to use modern technology to achieve its aims, and thus magic lantern slides and photography were put in when teaching the audience the evils of licentious life. Of course the most celebrated use of photography in temperance slides was the Life Model genre which flourished from the 1870th until World War I.


The Bottle. One of the best known temperance stories is "The Bottle" by George Cruikshank. There are a lot of versions of this impressive story. These are the last three slides of a version in sepia colours, made by McIntosh Stereopticon Co. Chicago. The slides measure 3 1/4 by 4 inches.
	#5 "Cold, Misery and Want Destroy the Youngest Child".	#6 "Fearful quarrels and brutal violence are the natural consequences".	#8 "The bottle has done its work."
The Calculating Cobbler.



A classic Temperance story. The slides measure 3 1/4" square and are described on the box as 'Superior Lithographic Coloured Lantern Slides'. The shield in the corner of the first slide says: 'A Copyright Story by Ellen Moorhouse reproduced by special permission, being no. 4 of Jarrolds' Penny Popular Stories. London Jarrold & Sons, 3 Paternoster Buildings.' This whole area was bombed to bits during WWII, so doesn't exist any more.
Ten Nights in a Bar Room.



This is a set of twelve slides produced by T.H. McAllister, Manufacturing Optician, 49 Nassau Street, N.Y. They show the evil of drinking and what happens to a family as a result. The slides are 3 ¼” x 4”
Title unknown.



Set of twelve magic lantern slides of an unknown temperance story. A man is enjoying a drink in the local bar. Suddenly someone faints and falls to the floor. He walks home where he finds a blaming wife and children. He leaves the house and sits under a signpost for the duration of four whole slides where he finally prays for forgiveness. Back home again he promises never to drink again and everybody is happy.
Dan Dabbertons Dream.


A lot of visions from the life behind him pass in his dreams.


This dramatic set consists of eighteen magic lantern slides with each slide measuring 3¼ inches x 3¼ inches. The slides were made by S.R. Gorvett of Bristol, England c. 1870. Eight slides contain smaller pictures that are used to superimpose the visions over slide number 7 where our hero is dreaming in front of the fireplace.
Jessies Last Request.

Four slides from a temperance Life Model set of twelve slides, made by Bamforth's, one of the UK's finest lantern slide manufacturers (1899).
Poor Mike. The Story of a Waif.




	This is the temperance story of "Poor Mike, the story of a waif". It has everything you can expect from a Victorian magic lantern melodrama: drink, poverty, shipwreck and a dying child at the end. These 18 British glass magic lantern slides measure 3.25" square (two of them are missing here). The slides were presented as a series of songs and hymns and the original song sheet is shown alongside.
	More tear-jerking temperance stories....