{"id":8253,"date":"2019-03-18T08:49:11","date_gmt":"2019-03-18T12:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=8253"},"modified":"2019-03-18T08:49:11","modified_gmt":"2019-03-18T12:49:11","slug":"magic-the-christine-drennon-european-lantern-slide-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=8253","title":{"rendered":"Magic: The Christine Drennon European Lantern Slide Collection"},"content":{"rendered":"

Special Collections Research Center holds a variety of early photography collections, one of the most interesting being the Christine Drennon European lantern slide collection.<\/a><\/span> This collection consists entirely of glass lantern slides, an early method of showcasing photography.<\/p>\n

\"\"

“Netherlands: Amsterdam.”<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Glass lantern slides are unique and curious objects, and are quite singular, as they predate even the earliest methods of photography. Originally created in the 1600s, Magic Lantern Slides, as they were known, were painted plates of glass that were mostly used by traveling showman for children’s entertainment. The slides were projected<\/a><\/span> to create a “magic” image, often moving, of painted people and scenes (you can see an example of this here.<\/a><\/span>) It took a couple of centuries for this technology to be combined with photography to create the photographic glass lantern slides we see in this collection. This meeting of media occurred in 1848, and by the 1850s photographic lantern slides ran rampant. Photographic lantern slides “consist[ed] of two sheets of glass, one of which ha[d] the image on one side of it and the other which cover[ed] the image, and [were] bound all around by a black paper tape.\u201d*<\/p>\n

\"\"

Piazza San Marco and gondolier, Venice, Italy.<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Black and white slides were the norm, and if one wanted a color image, the photograph would need to be painstakingly hand colored. In the 1930s, color slides became available, but were still not as prevalent as black and white slides. At this point, magic lantern slides took on additional purposes. In addition to entertainment, “educators, missionaries and salespeople soon began to use Magic Lantern slides to visually entice [an] audience while educating, spreading their messages, and peddling their wares. In this sense, lantern slides were a kind of precursor to the Power Point presentations we\u2019re all so familiar with now.\u201d** Due to this, glass lantern slides were eventually overtaken by more advanced technology, such as overhead and slide projectors.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Cologne after bombing with view of the Cologne Cathedral.<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

The glass lantern slides from the Drennon collection were seemingly used for educational purposes, and features incredible photography from the early 20th century of European vistas, maps, engineering feats, aerial views, and post-World War II destruction. The slides originated from the Universities of Michigan and Texas, and were presumably used as educational tools there. You can view digitized versions of the entire collection here.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n

*http:\/\/www.magiclanternsociety.org\/about-magic-lanterns\/lantern-slides\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

**https:\/\/siarchives.si.edu\/blog\/understanding-magic-lantern<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Featured image:\u00a0“Austria: Road to Grossglockner tow. S”<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Special Collections Research Center holds a variety of early photography collections, one of the most interesting being the Christine Drennon European lantern slide collection. This collection consists entirely of glass lantern slides, an early method of showcasing photography. Glass lantern slides are unique and curious objects, and are quite singular, as they predate even the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101014,"featured_media":8255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[557,558,710,3,162,5,121],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-collections","category-digitization","category-new-finding-aids","category-news","category-recently-processed","category-scrc-interest","category-scrc-picks"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/grossglockner.jpg?fit=1145%2C731&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Ep5i-297","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10686,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=10686","url_meta":{"origin":8253,"position":0},"title":"New SCRC Exhibition Opening – Slideshow: An Image, A Light, A Lens, and An Audience","author":"Bob Vay","date":"October 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"On Thursday October 12, 3:30 - 5 PM, in the SCRC Seminar Room, 2400 Fenwick Library, the University Libraries will hold an opening reception for the new exhibition: Slideshow: An Image, A Light, A Lens, and An Audience. 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Special Collections Research Center here at George Mason University also recognizes this importance and decided that we would feature just some of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Photography collections"","block_context":{"text":"Photography collections","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=198"},"img":{"alt_text":"Map of China. Japanese invasion of Manchuria photograph collection # C0200, Box 1, Folder 14. Special Collections Research Center. George Mason University.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/C0200B1F14.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/C0200B1F14.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/C0200B1F14.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10891,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=10891","url_meta":{"origin":8253,"position":2},"title":"New Finding Aid – Vergil Dykstra slide collection","author":"Meghan Glasbrenner","date":"April 19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 When you have a new collection that contains over 760 individual photographic slides you have to dedicate a full new findings aids blog to it! 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At the Special Collections Research Center, our collection of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "exhibits"","block_context":{"text":"exhibits","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/csoda-inside-cover.png?fit=961%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/csoda-inside-cover.png?fit=961%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/csoda-inside-cover.png?fit=961%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/csoda-inside-cover.png?fit=961%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10030,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=10030","url_meta":{"origin":8253,"position":4},"title":"New Year, New Collection!","author":"Lynn Eaton","date":"February 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Here at the Mason Libraries Special Collections Research Center (SCRC), our staff have been busy bringing in a few new collections, preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Mason becoming a university, and working on other projects big and small to make our collections more accessible to students, faculty, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/lynnblog.jpg?fit=655%2C873&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/lynnblog.jpg?fit=655%2C873&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/lynnblog.jpg?fit=655%2C873&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9486,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=9486","url_meta":{"origin":8253,"position":5},"title":"New and Updated Finding Aids – Part Two","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"March 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Hello one and all! Here is a new addition of New and Updated Finding Aids - enjoy! ... 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