The History of the Magic Lantern

Developed in the 17th century, the magic lantern allowed people to experience movie-like entertainment hundreds of years before cinema or photography existed.
Christiaan Huygens, a Dutch astronomer, mathematician, and physicist in the 1650s, is credited with the invention of the magic lantern. Huygens projected images by using an optical lens, painted glass slides, and candlelight. Magic lantern slides would bring the world to life in projected images. Lantern slides ranged in theme from classic fairy tale stories like Cinderella and Puss in Boots to exotic landscapes and travel. Some projectionists even used slides of supernatural creatures that appeared in magic shows called "phantasmagorias."
Magic lantern technology also saw many innovations. Lantern slides started out as static, hand-painted images, but they eventually became animated. The mechanical slides used layers of lever mechanisms and rotating glass discs to create motion. And with the onset of new lighting techniques like limelight, and eventually electricity, magic lantern projections became larger and brighter.
While magic lantern shows were hugely popular throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, by the late 1800s, they could no longer compete with the cinema. However, they did remain popular for home use up until the 1920s.
You can experience a magic lantern interpretation of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," at Holiday Nights in Greenfield Village; select evenings in December.
Visit our website to buy tickets for Holiday Nights: www.thehenryfo...
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[@garrysmith5562]

Id pay to see one of these shows today. Why stop it just because technology got better. Old stuff is still cool.

[@stphinkle]

Oddly enough, the Magic Lantern is still used today in a more modern form. Modern LCD projectors are essentially a magic lantern in which an LCD panel is inserted in it using the computer screen via LCD panel as the projection image.

[@harshmnr]

2000s: "Stop watching TV and go do your homework." 1600s: "Stop looking at thine magic lantern and go studyeth the King James Bible!" ~:~

[@PeterSwinkels]

Nah, today it would be "Stop staring at your phone".

[@schallabeer]

Christiaan was actually very bored by the lantern, but his father was very impressed with it. Christiaan had to make a lantern in 1662 for his father to show to Louis XIV. When he dropped off the finished product he added a note to his younger brother Lodewijk, asking that if there is an opportunity to render the lantern incapable of working by removing a lense.

[@dossiebigham6916]

Funny enough there was a thing called "the midnight ghost shows" was a thing in the 1930s-1960s that was kinda like phatasmagoria shows but with movies and other bits and shows and using actors and props and other things. Like someone dressed up like a killer or monster in a movie would come out run up on the audience or they'd have buzzers in the seats for a spine tingling feeling or have hanging skeletons swing down over the crown on lines or something. It wasn't magic or high art but entertainment one some people might know William Castle kinda became THE GUY for these kind of things his where often times lower quality but they had mass appeal an the way he himself saw it was long as the audience is entertained an i get payed its all good. History of the midnight ghost show kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6jaqKePmcqso6s

[@mathew4181]

Athanasius kircher was credited with the invention of Magic lantern not Christain huggyens

[@jackkraken3888]

I'm here because I remembered magic lantern as an actual device and not a 3Rd party firmware for Canon DSLRs that give it more features.

[@CinnamonGrrlErin1]

Very cool

[@josuerugerio8229]

Took me a second to realize this has nothing to do with the custom firmware for canon cameras

[@psychedelicjim7093]

Amish communities sometimes have them today.

[@imasmurfy1]

Plato’s cave. …and the early days of mass programming and mind control. Amazing work. ! Successful beyond the original inventor’s expectations, i’m sure.

[@NightTimeDay]

Many also view this is the early days of the art of animation. It goes to show that the world is largely shaped by your view of it.

[@Tenna2918]

Studing DLP and now I am here

[@an_hooo]

Thanks a lot!

[@CommandoX798]

I’m here after watching a show in Valentine in Red Dead Redemption 2.

[@philozoic9491]

You should have show its principle practically dear

[@ChillVanille]

Well hell, I thought they was going to give a is a lantern show

[@chaycunningham1999]

Bummer did not show one that's what I commented too. But was informative and kewl.

[@tertommy]

17th century people sorta smart.

[@aleckbo]

They had to get creative haha

[@viejaspeliculasfilipinas3621]

They wanted to entertain people, and get rid of boredom So creative and amazing

[@chaycunningham1999]

Super awesome did not know about these until few mins ago . Very informative. Id go to one today if they had one. Unfortunately u did not show one working . Maybe it was broke ?

[@aquarius1706]

i'm here because David Brodwell books

[@yashicat5950]

Hasn't the human put the demon in the boiling water?

[@jackkraken3888]

I would too, demons taste like chicken. 🤣

[@srbrant5391]

RDR2 sent me.

[@Hist_da_Musica]

Marx and Walter Benjamin sent me here