The miracle of the magic lantern (3)

The miracle of the magic lantern (part 3)

The magic lantern gradually found its way into the living room. The types that were sold for this purpose were much smaller than their serious brothers. For the lighting in general a simple small oil-lamp or a candle was used. A small funnel on top of the lantern regulated a smooth draught and the removal of combustion gasses. The 'lampascope' was also popular, a magic lantern with a round hole at the bottom, which could be placed over an ordinary table-oil-lamp. Such a lamp was already available in most of the households and by doing so an additional source of lighting was unnecessary. To prevent the lantern tumbling forward, due to the weight of the lens, the lid in the back part was filled with sand to make it heavier. The appearances of the magic lanterns were quite different. The simplest ones were made of tin plate and did not cost more than one Dutch guilder. For people who could afford more expensive specimens were also available; those were made of fine mahogany or were supplied with inlaid tiles.

The lanterns were sold with matching glass-slides. Four or five round images were usually printed on the glass-strips. These often related to fairy-tale figures or subjects taken from real life. The slides were usually sold in boxes of twelve pieces and did not cost more than a few Dutch guilders. However they could also cost a few hundred. The cheapest slides were covered with a sort of transfer (decalcomanias); the most expensive ones were hand painted and placed in a wooden frame. There were real works of art among them.
Numerous tricks were applied to make the images moving. Various ingenious mechanical devices with turning glass plates, belts, cogwheels and levers were invented. For instance the angry looking schoolmaster, rolling his eyes frightfully and swinging his small stick. This would be used of course when the young spectators behaved boisterously. There were somersaulting clowns and giants from the circus, lifting their heavy weights. A train was finding its way puffing and groaning over a railway-bridge. A church, which gradually became covered by snow. And a windmill in a typically Dutch landscape. The sails are not moving. "Shall we start the sails moving, boys?" father asks his young audience. Whilst the children are blowing in the direction of the screen with all their strength, the sails start to move slowly.
Turning two hand-painted circular glasses in opposite directions produced brilliant kaleidoscopic colour-effects on the screen. These 'chromatropes' showed to full advantage if the sound of an old musical box was heard. Of course the lanternist would have a lot of 'effects' at his disposal, such as rattles, hooters, bells and, perhaps the most important, his voice.
	A clever publicity-agent had the idea of manufacturing a 'pavement-lantern'. Due to the particularly large focus-distance of the lens it was possible to project advertisements on the pavement or on a blind wall on the other side of the street. The police had to take immediate action. The horses bolted and traffic was completely disrupted. In 1889 the Optical Magic Lantern Journal reported that most principal railway stations were showing lantern advertisements. The slides were changing automatically every 30 seconds, day and night. The clockwork mechanism needed to be wound up by railway staff once a week.
Suddenly the success of the magic lantern stopped, because around 1910 the cinematography, the movie, was introduced. Lanternists who were worshipped as a kind of magicians until then, were given the bird and driven off if they dared to perform with their non-moving images.

Annet Duller giving a modern magic lantern show.

The glass slide, as carrier of the image, was pushed aside by the movie and later on by the videotape, CD-rom and DVD. Children put a video into the recorder without thinking about it. We have computers with 'multimedia’. But yet..... even nowadays there are performances with the old magic lantern and it is surprising how children are still fascinated by the great miracle of the magic lantern, the Laterna Magica.