Vigo County Historical Society

Historical Treasure Article

Historic Treasure of the Week - January 9, 1983

"Magic Lantern" made in Germany

The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley will be closed during the months of January and February. During this period, the Historical Treasure of the Week will include several descriptions written by the late Juliet A. Peddle for the Historical Society's newsletter, The Leaves of Thyme.

"The Museum has acquired an interesting item ... a magic lantern. It would be called a projector today, though there is a big difference between the magic lantern of yesterday and the projector of today. This one belonged in the A.L. Pfau family here in Terre Haute. It came from Germany; the box bears the label 'Privilegirts Lanterna Magica, No. 204 (the numeral is handwritten).

"What it amounts to is a metal cylinder about five inches long and four inches in diameter, at the front of which is a square box shaped projection which holds the slides and supports the lens on beyond. The lens is composed of two lenses mounted on separate tubes so they can slide and adjust the focus. The slide holder has openings on all four sides, each closed with a little metal shutter on springs which close when released.

"Slides may be inserted horizontally in the slide openings or vertically, in the top and bottom ones. The slides do not contain just a single picture as ours do today. They may contain four or five on a long narrow slide, the next one displayed by pushing the slide a little farther along. The pictures are round and are colorful storybook pictures such as you might expect to find made in Germany. They are evidently hand colored.

"Of course, the basis of any lantern or projector is a source of light. This one was designed before the days of electric lights, and provision is made for a small kerosene lamp which has been lost. There is a small level platform of metal near the back of the lantern for the lamp to rest on and a shaded chimney above to let out the heat."

Juliet A. Peddle

Leaves of Thyme, December, 1958