About the Magic Lantern Slides
WhaWhatt?
The definition of the Society ofAmerican Archivists (SAA)
states that a magic lantern slide is“a transparent image on glass,approximately 3.5 x 4 inches,that is intended to be viewed byprojection.” Some “lantern slides
may have images that are hand-painted, printed or
photographed.”

ABBrrieeff H
Hiissttoorry(The Library of Congress
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/landscape/lanternhist
ory.html)“The practice of projecting images from glass plates
began centuries before the invention of photography. As
early as the seventeenth century the Magic Lantern, orSciopticon, was used to project painted images on glassfor children’s picture shows and for religious displays. In
the 1840s, Philadelphia daguerreotypists, William andFrederick Langenheim, began experimenting with The

Magic Lantern as an apparatus for displaying theirphotographic images. Because of the opaque nature of thedaguerreotype, it could not be projected. Therefore, thebrothers looked for a medium that would create atransparent image. They employed the discoveries of theFrench inventor, Niépce de St. Victor, who haddiscovered a way to adhere a light sensitive solution onto
glass for the creation of a negative. By using that negative
to print onto another sheet of glass rather than onto paper,
the Langenheims were able to create a transparent positive
image, suitable for projection. The brothers patented theirinvention in 1850 and called it a Hyalotype (hyalo is theGreek word for glass). The following year they received a
medal at the Crystal Palace Exposition in London.

The Langenheims envisioned their slides as forms ofentertainment, charging a fee to watch their picture shows.
However, within a few years, lantern slides began tofulfill a variety of purposes. While entertainmentremained an important function well into the twentiethcentury, lantern slides had the greatest impact on
educational lectures, especially in visual disciplines. They
played a vital role in the development of disciplines suchas art and architectural history, making possible thedetailed study of objects and sites from around the world.”

Lantern Slide Projectors
For more information The Magic Lantern Society<http://www.magiclantern.org.uk/index.html>

About the Magic Lantern Slides
In JapanThe magic lantern slides were introduced to Japan via
Holland in the mid 18th century. They became Japanizedand known in the public entertainment media as “utsushie” during the late Edo period (1603-1867). However, theeducational use of this media began during the early Meiji
period (1868-1912), when magic lanternslides were re-introduced by Tejima Seiichi(1849-1918) from the United States in 1874.
The Ministry of Education commissioned totwo photographers, Tsurubuchi Hatsuzō andNakajima Matsuchi, to create the Japaneseversion of these slides, commonly called "gentō-ban (幻燈板)," to promote and educate students and the public.
Lantern slides reached their peak
popularity in the late Meiji period.
During the 10 years before and after theSino-Japan (1894-1895) and RussoJapan (1904-1905) Wars, they were
especially popular with the major news
media.

The popularity of lantern slides
among the general public wasgradually replaced by cinema.
However, they continued to be usedat schools as visual media and for
prewar propaganda. Even after theWorld War II, the U.S. occupation
forces utilized them for re-education
purposes through about 1955.