Children’s toy magic lantern projector in a box complete with an assortment of slides. While the standard slide holder takes rotating disc slides, the box contain accessories which allowed for the use of strip slides as well, as the round glass disc shown in the photo. There are a total of 10 glass slides. These lamps were used as means of entertainment and education.
The body of this magic lantern is of polished brass with a spere incorporating a single wick kerosine burner as an illuminant. The projection barrel is composed of tin, while the lens is encased in a brass housing. There are several paper tickets that were made to invite your friends to the show! Box measures 10″ height, 5″ depth and 8″ wide. Manufactured by Jean Schoenner of Germany 1880. Lovely little toy lantern. The box bears the beautiful coloured label with the J.S. trade mark and No. 14514.
Magic lanterns are an early equivalent of today’s slide projectors, with a few important differences. First, magic lanterns used fire instead of electric bulbs to illuminate the slides. A second difference was the shape of the slides. Magic lantern slides came in strips of large, bulky pieces of glass held together with metal or wood. They often contained mechanical features that allowed limited movement of one or more slides within the projector, a feature no longer found on modern slide projectors. Lastly, many magic lanterns could display images of greater complexity than today’s slide projectors.
There is one Chromatrope Magic Lantern Mechanical Slide – Consists of two revolving glass discs, rotating in opposite directions. Both glass discs are 1 3/4″ diameter, The discs are held together by a wide brass rim and are rotated through a wooden handle connected to a steel pinion with toothed-end. The whole is assembled on a wooden frame 4 1/2″ x 2 “. The glass discs are painted in blue, red, yellow and black arcs and their rotation produces a dazzling kaleidoscopic effect.
