Lantern Slides and Glass Plate Negatives Collection, ca. 1890s-1910s

Summary

Creator:

Anonymous

Abstract:

The Lantern slides and glass plate negatives collection consists of approximately 1,260 magic lantern slides, glass plate negatives, and glass plate transparencies from commercial and non-commercial sources documenting a wide range of subjects.

Extent:

approximately 1,260 items in 33 boxes

Language:

English

Authors:

Collection processed by Les High, May 2018 and finding aid created by Jakob Dopp, March 2022

Background

Scope and Content:

The Lantern slides and glass plate negatives collection consists of approximately 1,260 magic lantern slides, glass plate negatives, and glass plate transparencies from commercial and non-commercial sources documenting a wide range of subjects.

The collection contains a total of 33 boxes and is loosely organized by topical groupings. The following list references individual boxes and the general nature of their contents.

Box 1 (G.4.1) (25 items) – Ann Arbor

• 10 x 12.5 cm glass negatives of views of Ann Arbor, Michigan, ca. early 1900s taken by an unidentified photographer. Includes views of several University of Michigan buildings, hospitals, fraternity houses, and private residences.

Box 2 (G.4.2) (26 items) – Movie Ads; 1906 San Francisco Earthquake

• Sixteen 8 x 10 cm cardboard-mounted slides showing posters for upcoming films and local product advertisements intended for use in movie theater intermissions. Producers include Excelsior Illustrating Co., Inc. and Photo Repro Co., Inc. Identified films include High Steppers (1926); The Blind Goddess (1926); Without Mercy (1926); Chickie (1925); Stop, Look and Listen (1926); West Point (1927); Pals First (1926); Ella Cinders (1926); Paying the Price (1927); The Avalanche (1919); and Turn to the Right (1922).
• Ten 7.5 x 7.5 cm slides documenting damage caused by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake (two of the slides are broken).

Box 3 (G.4.3) (40 items) – Pearsall, New York City

• 10 x 12.5 cm glass negatives including scenic views of fields, woods and towns, Canterbury Cathedral, ships in harbor, New York City streets, Coney Island beaches, street merchants, and children interacting with dogs (often humorously). All or some the images were produced by photographer William S. Pearsall in 1906 or earlier.

Box 4 (G.4.4) (29 items) – Movie Ads

• Twenty-two 8 x 10 cm cardboard-mounted slides (some damaged) showing motion picture posters intended for display during movie theater intermissions with play dates handwritten in space at bottom. Dates listed range from 1918 to 1929. Identified films include The Devils Circus (1926); The Love of Sunya (1927); The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929); Mademoiselle Modiste (1926); Classified (1925); Chang (1927); The Demi-Bride (1927); The Swell-Head (1927); Steele of the Royal Mounted (1925); The Voice of the City (1929); His Supreme Moment (1925); Monte Carlo (1926); An Old Fashioned Boy (1920); Lovers in Quarantine (1925); Riders of the Dawn (1920); Paid Back (1922); The Breaking Point (1921); and Gypsy Blood (also named Carmen - 1918 in Germany, 1921 in U.S.A.)
• Seven 8 x 10 cm hand-colored slides showing scenes from the popular book The Bad Boy and His Pa by George W. Peck produced by the Chicago Projecting Co. in 1904. Tableaux are carefully staged and elaborately tinted.

Box 5 (G.4.5) (31 items) – Movie Ads

• Includes 8 x 10 cm slides showing scenes from The Bad Boy and His Pa by the Chicago Projecting Co. Other identified films include Babe Comes Home (1927); Figures Don't Lie (1927); and The Danger Girl (1916).

Box 6 (G.4.6) (28 items) – Movie Ads

• Twenty-six 8 x 10 cm cardboard-mounted movie theater slides related to coming attractions or local products. One item of particular note includes a notice to female patrons that they do not need to remove their hats if they are seated in the women’s section. Identified films include The Taxi Dancer (1927); Square Crooks (1928); The City Gone Wild (1927); Too Much Money (1926); The First Night (1927); Broadway Nights (1927); Rainbow Riley (1926); The Wizard (1927); Vamping Venus (1928); The People vs. Nancy Preston (1925); Lovely Mary (1926); Rookies (1927); The Swan (1925); The Cohens and Kellys (1926); His People (1925); and My Official Wife (1926).

Box 7 (G.4.7) (31 items) – Movie Ads

• Twenty-three 8 x 10 cm cardboard-mounted movie theater slides related to coming attractions or local products. Identified films include The Phantom Police (1926); The Testing Block (1920); The Brute Master (1920); The Cowboy Ace (1921); The Song and Dance Man (1926); His Brother's Keeper (1921); Private Izzy Murphy (1926); The Wanderer (1925); Eve's Leaves (1926); Good and Naughty (1926); It's The Old Army Game (1926); Vanishing Trails (serial, 1920); Don't Shoot (1922); The Whirlwhind of Youth (1927); The Shield of Honor (1927); Across to Singapore (1928); Naughty But Nice (1927); The Barrier (1926); For The Love of Mike (1927); The Dark Angel (1925); Keeping Up With Lizzie (1921); and Top O' The Morning (1922).
• Seven 8 x 10 cm slides (mostly duplicates) related to the Yale “Pageant of America” series showing damage in the aftermath of World War I.
• One 8 x 10 cm slide showing an ancient Egyptian tablet depicting battle.

Box 8 (G.4.8) (59 items) – Fitchburg, Mass.; Dr. J. T. Morehouse & others

• Twenty 8 x 10 cm slides documenting various activities in the town of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, around the turn of the 20th-century, including a hot-air balloon excursion and a fire engine race, along with other local scenes.
• Thirty-nine 8 x 10 cm slides showing scenic views (some hand-colored) in New Jersey and New York between 1896 and 1907. Most are attributed to Dr. J. T. Morehouse, but other noted contributors include the Charles Beseler Co., Dr. Ferdinand G. Kneer, William Archibald, and George W. Lamoreux. Items of particular interest include an aerial view of lower Manhattan; a map of New Jersey showing holdings of Esso; and a hand-colored view of a high railroad bridge in Portage, New York.

Box 9 (G.4.9) (30 items) – Clements Library materials; Miscellaneous views

• Twenty 8 x 10 cm slides by Ann Arbor photographer George R. Swain documenting select manuscripts and maps from the William L. Clements Library.
• One 10 x 12.5 cm glass negative view of the Clements Library exterior.
• Seven 8 x 10 cm slides of outdoor scenes in Alaska and California from around 1900.
• Two 8 x 10 cm copy negatives of elaborate unidentified interiors.

Box 10 (G.4.10) (29 items) – Clements Library materials; Miscellaneous views

• Six 8 x 10 cm slides of scenes in California and British Columbia. Includes view of a redwood logging train.
• Ten 8 x 10 cm glass negatives of scenes in British Columbia, mountain views, and photos of maps.
• Four 8 x 10 cm slides by Ann Arbor photographer George R. Swain of items from the William L. Clements Library.
• Nine 8 x 10 cm slides showing people and places (notably Firle Place) in the United Kingdom during the 1920s.

Box 11 (G.4.11) (30 items) – Clements Library materials

• Six 8 x 10 cm slides by Ann Arbor photographer George R. Swain showing exterior and interior views of the William L. Clements Library in the 1940s.
• Twenty-four 8 x 10 cm slides by Ann Arbor photographer George R. Swain of items from the William L. Clements Library. Includes an image of materials from the Thomas Gage papers stored in one their original document chests.

Box 12 (G.4.12) (12 items) – Miscellaneous

• Five 8 x 10 cm slides showing unidentified locations (possibly in Alaska) produced by the Seattle, Washington studio of Asahel Curtis.
• Four 8 x 10 cm slide reproductions of paintings.
• Three 8 x 10 cm slides of miscellaneous content.

Box 13 (G.4.13) (42 items) – Voyage Historique d’Abissinie

• 8 x 10 cm glass negatives documenting a 1728 French translation of an earlier memoir by Jerome Lobo regarding attempts to convert Ethiopians to Christianity. An enclosed note says slides were for “a Prestor [sic] John talk.”

Box 14 (G.4.14) (20 items) – Lumber production

• 8 x 10 cm slides from an extensive educational series on lumbering processes and techniques produced ca. 1910. Images detail the production of railroad ties, including loggers’ methods of shaping each piece with their axes, and the proper method of stacking ties. Most of these views appear to be from Michigan’s lower peninsula, but one slide is from Wyoming in 1910.

Box 15 (G.4.15) (32 items) – Lumber production

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing various stages in logging operations and mill processes in states from Maine to California. Includes one hand-colored view of a mill pond in Virginia and a map of the U.S. that renders the size of each state relative to its timber resources.

Box 16 (G.4.16) (29 items) – Lumber production

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing production stages for treenails and stulls. Also includes images of various types of mill saws in marketing photos as well as working mills.

Box 17 (G.4.17) (32 items) – Lumber production

• 8 x 10 cm slides primarily related to pulp production with views showing logging sites, stages of the milling process, and specific machinery used. Includes images showing both ox-drawn and wooden-wheeled logging wagons.

Box 18 (G.4.18) (29 items) – Lumber production

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing portable mills set up near logging sites and log flumes in various stages of construction and operation. Several images of elaborate flume constructions are present.

Box 19 (G.4.19) (29 items) – Lumber production

• 8 x 10 cm slides related to fir logging, possibly in Sitka, Alaska. Also present are a couple views showing treenail production.

Box 20 (G.4.20) (33 items) – Lumber production

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing locust logging, log loaders, and lumber yards.

Box 21 (G.4.21) (34 items) – Lumber production

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing different types of log loaders as well as maps of the U.S. highlighting population and timber resources.

Box 22 (G.4.22) (33 items) – Lumber production

• 8 x 10 cm slides related to the Lidgerwood (written as “Ledgerwood” on slide labels) logging system which made extensive use of winches and pulleys. The Lidgerwood Company was instrumental in building the Panama Canal and later developed machinery for the logging industry. Also present are more images of log loaders and diagrams/photos of mill machinery.

Box 23 (G.4.23) (33 items) – Lumber production

• 8 x 10 cm slides related to the Lidgerwood system as well as views of logging and mill operations in several states.

Box 24 (G.4.24) (32 items) – Lumber production

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing pull boats towing log rafts and various logging and milling operations.

Box 25 (G.4.25) (30 items) –Lumber production

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing finished lumber products being shipped by boat, rail, and wagon as well as images related to shingle production.

Box 26 (G.4.26) (28 items) - Lumber production

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing steps in the production of shingles, stulls, and poles as well as steps in paper production, including micro views of linen and cotton paper fibers.

Box 27 (G.4.27) (38 items) - Lumber production; Anchuha

• Twenty-eight 8 x 10 cm slides showing stages in paper production as well as views of portable mills and flumes, especially flume dumps.
• Ten 10 x 12.5 cm glass negatives by unidentified photographer ca. 1902 related to estate in Berlin, Maryland nicknamed “Anchuha.” Includes snapshots of house and family members.

Box 28 (G.7.1) (83 items) - Lumber production

• Despite the separate accession number, these lumbering slides appear to be from the same educational series contained in other boxes. The topics covered by the 8 x 10 cm slides in this box include agricultural use of logged spaces, large mill operations, redwood logging, steam tractors, splash dams and charcoal kilns.

Box 29 (G.7.2) (80 items) – Michigan Lumbering Lantern Slides

• 8 x 10 cm slides covering log jams, barrel staves and cooperage, flumes, big tree logging, and maps of national forests. Non-Michigan locations also represented. Includes color slide by Asahel Curtis showing Douglas fir timbers on railroad car.

Box 30 (G.7.3) (76 items) - Michigan Lumbering Lantern Slides

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing pole roads, agricultural use of logged land, large mills, machinery used in distillation and cooperage, logging of wide range of individual tree species. Non-Michigan locations also represented.

Box 31 (G.7.4) (79 items) - [Untitled]

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing tramways, pull boats, portable mills, geared locomotives, and skidways as well as a graph comparing regional production. Nine shattered slides are present.

Box 32 (G.7.5) (82 items) - [Untitled]

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing gasoline and steam skidders, lumber yards, motor trucks, and Arizona tree species. One image of particular interest shows an early Kelly truck with a full load of logs and an African American driver.

Box 33 (G.8.1) (16 items) - Miscellaneous Glass Slides, Negs

• Eight 8 x 10 cm glass negative copies of photos showing scenes in Alaska, including the Muir Glacier.
• Four 8 x 10 cm slide views of British Columbia, possibly from a Canadian Pacific Railroad car.
• Three 12.5 x 18 cm glass negative self-portraits by Charles P. Steinmetz, ca. 1904/5.
• One 12.5 x 18 cm glass negative titled “Girl on Bicycle”

Biographical / Historical:

The glass plate coated with photosensitive emulsion was the most common medium for capturing images from the early days of photography until the introduction of flexible film late in the 19th-century. Although they were heavy and complicated to use, glass plates enabled the production of multiple prints and delivered an image much superior to paper negatives. The glass plate format continued to appeal to some amateur photographers even after simpler formats became available, while for several decades after the invention of modern film glass plates were still used in scientific and other specialized applications. Indeed, institutions wishing to document important collections or record certain types of scientific observations continued to utilize the glass plate format well into the 20th-century. One group of slides in this collection resulted from a 1940s project by the Clements Library to make a visual record of some of its most valuable holdings.

Hand-painted glass slides projected by a “magic lantern” had been used to entertain audiences since the 17th-century. With the introduction of photographic images, slide shows became more than an exotic entertainment and, particularly from the 1880s-1920s, were an increasingly common accompaniment to educational lectures and other presentations. Manufacturers produced packages on various subjects that they marketed to universities, social organizations, and individuals. The extensive lumbering series in this collection is a good example of a product, probably developed by a university or industry group, designed for teaching about industry methods and practices. Lantern slides also gave rise to a boom in visual entertainment. Using techniques that pre-figured modern cinematic animation, developers took popular books and stories and turned them into a series of tableaux (often meticulously hand-colored) with captions describing the action in the image. Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Peck’s Bad Boy are two examples of popular books that were turned into equally popular slide shows. Several examples from Peck’s Bad Boy and His Pa are represented in this collection

The advent of moving pictures created a dramatic downturn in the market previously dominated by lantern slides, but it also provided a new use for them. Early movie technology required frequent brief intermissions while the technician changed reels or repaired a break in the film. During these pauses, lantern slides showing posters for coming attractions or promotions for local businesses were projected onto the screen. Space was provided on each movie poster slide for the theater owner to pencil in the dates the new film would be shown.

Acquisition Information:

Purchased, 1992 (F-80); Donated, 1994 (F-156.1); Donated, 1996 (F-344); Donated, 1998 (F-444); Purchased, 1998 (F-472.1); Purchased, 2004 (F-686); Purchased, 2004 (F-718) F-80, F-156.1, F-344, F-444, F-472.1, F-686, F-718 .

Rules or Conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Related

Additional Descriptive Data:

Related Materials

Other Clements collections that contain glass slides include the David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography and the Albert D. Noble, Jr. Glass Negatives Collection.

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

Photographs shelf.
Art objects, Egyptian.
Balloons (Aircraft)
Beaches.
Bicycles.
Charcoal.
Children.
Coopers.
Dwellings.
Families.
Farms.
Firefighting equipment.
Flumes.
Forestry.
Fuelwood.
Harbors.
Horse railroads.
Horse-drawn vehicles.
Indians of North America.
Logs.
Lumber industry.
Lumberyards.
Maple sugar industry.
Merchant ships.
Motion pictures.
Paper industry.
Paper mills.
Pulp mills.
Pulpwood.
Railroad bridges.
Railroad ties.
Railroads.
Rare books.
San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, Calif., 1906.
Sawmills.
Saws.
Shingles.
Silent films.
Staves and stave trade.
Steamboats.
Theater commercials (Motion pictures)
Trees.
World War, 1914-1918.

Formats:

Aerial photographs.
Books--Reproductions.
Glass negatives.
Glass transparencies.
Lantern slides.
Manuscripts--Reproductions.
Maps--Reproductions.
Paintings--Reproductions.

Names:

Canterbury Cathedral.
Firle Place (Firle, England)
University of Michigan.
William L. Clements Library.
Charles Beseler Co.
Chicago Projecting Co.
Excelsior Illustrating Co., Inc.
Photo Repro. Co., Inc.
Yale University Press.
Lobo, Jerónimo, 1596?-1678. Itinerário. French.
Archibald, William.
Curtis, Asahel, 1874-1941.
Glenn, J. A. (Photographer)
Hough, Romeyn Beck, 1857-1924.
Kneer, Ferdinand G.
Lamoreux, George W.
Morehouse, J. T.
Pearsall, William S.
Steinmetz, Charles Proteus, 1865-1923.
Swain, G. R. (George R.)

Places:

Alabama.
Alaska.
Ann Arbor (Mich.)
Arizona.
Berlin (Md.)
British Columbia.
California.
Colorado.
Coney Island (New York, N. Y.)
Fitchburg (Mass.)
Idaho.
Louisiana.
Maine.
Michigan.
Muir Glacier (Alaska)
New Jersey.
New York (N.Y.)
Virginia.
Washington (State)
Wyoming.