The Optical Magic Lantern Journal (February 1897)

28 The Optical Magic Lantern Journal and Photographic Enlarger. Slides.— No. IV. By F. J. SCRIMGEOUR. Was) EFORE I pass on to the amateur’s ZY process, namely, slide-making on gelatino-chloride plates, I must say a few words about the large class of slides which go under the general term of ‘ transfers.” This is a purely commercial and mechanical process, and the results are the very cheapest coloured transparencies in the market. They arealsothecrudest. These chromo lithographic lantern slides (which is the proper family name) dress themselves in garments of the loudest pattern, and just because the colours do not usually form a tasteful combination you get very full weight for your money. ‘Folk can’t very well complain about the quality if we give them quantity” is the view they take, and I regret to think that the German tradesmen have very accurately gauged the artistic taste of the British lanternist, as he is found in many parts of Great Britain. On that never-to-be-forgotten Christmas morning when I had removed the lid from the wooden box which, from its position, I pre sumed had arrived by way of the chimney, I } discovered in a drawer at the side of my first magic lantern a parcel of slides each about a foot long. On these stripes of glass the ‘‘ king of the forest’ could be seen fleeing for dear life from the angry onrush of a huge black-beetle, while a little push displayed the hairy form of a gorilla hanging from the tendril of a gooseberry bush laden with large (very large) and rosy (very rosy) American apples. Santa Claus is not without common sense, and he had evidently in his mind when he dropped that box down the chimney, the combination of natural history with amusement. How I loved those pictures! How I adored the fourth slide with the clowns at the beginning, and ending with a nigger drinking from a bottle labelled ink. The clowns perhaps grew dull, or may be the ink gave out—I do not exactly know the reason why—but the fact remains that as the weeks and months flew on, the nursery exhibitions became less frequent until at last they ceased altogether, and the dust gradually buried'from sight the gaily-coloured label on the toy-press shelf. As I write, I feel quite sure that the finest set of artistically tinted photos could not then have given me half the pleasure I derived from my dozen transfer slides. They are quite suitable for children, and a new box of slides for his last year’s lantern, in many cases, proves the most acceptable gift you can give a boy at Christmas. But the development in the use of these transfer slides has caused me much astonishment, Some dealers now stock large numbers of them in the standard square size, and a glance at a lantern catalogue will show that a set of twelve may be had for about 3s. on almost any subject under the sun. I have had the pleasure (?) of seeing a good many of these sets. : They have made a lasting impression on me ! They also revealed to me how woefully ignorant I was on some matters, and how much I had been deceived in my youth about others. At first I felt inclined to question the truthfulness of some of the pictures, but recently, while glancing over a certain catalogue, I saw these same slides described as ‘‘ authentic,” which statement, of course, settles the matter. T am now quite aware that all the passengers who take “ a voyage across the Atlantic in an Ocean greyhound” have hair of exactly the same “‘ carroty red’ colour. A friend of mine says that he expects the salt spray of the ‘herring pond” turns all the ‘ golden,” “ auburn,” and “ raven” tresses into the same sweet tint mentioned above, but for my own part I am inclined to believe that there must be some powerful though private line which only accepts as passengers people whose locks will “match” their standard pattern. I was also much gratified to see what a healthy life is the life of a whaler, and that each man engaged in the industry possesses such lovely rosy cheeks as might well raise envy in the heart of any actress. ‘The occupation is no doubt a dangerous one, but these men have stout British hearts, and even when death stares them in the face they acquit themselves like men. Do they blanch with terror when a big black tail meets the bottom of their shallow boat ? Not at all; the healthy bloom does not desert the cheek even when their bodies are involuntarily rising towards the cloudless heavens. : I have heard that the use of chromo-litho slides is rapidly increasing in the country villages. According to statistics, insanity is becoming more common in certain rural districts. I don’t wonder. As long as these transparencies are considered and exhibited as comic slides, they do not call