Magic Lantern

The earliest versions of magic lantern slides were hand-painted black and white artwork on glass plates, developed by Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens in the mid 1600s. In 1849 the Langenheim brothers from Germany were the first to use black and white photographs to create a glass slide that was projected with a kerosene flame. Over the years it became very popular to hand paint slides for a faux color effect. From 1892 to 1963, the Keystone View Company was one of many producers that created thousands of magic lantern slides for entertainment and education.

Magic lantern slides are easy to identify because they consist of one piece of glass with the photo or artwork, another piece of glass for protection, and the two plates are joined together with black tape all around the edges. Magic lantern slides waned in popularity by the 1950s as 35mm photography and television captured the world’s attention.

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