03.

AN INSPIRING OLD TOY





There was no TV when I was a child. As a keen moviegoer though I longed to know how they could make those pictures moving on the cinema screen.

This kind of toy belonged to my father once. He gave me a short lesson in the principles of film projecting. 
I was eager to learn more and decided to be an amateur film-maker in the future.

Curiously enough even the manual has survived after all these years.

Made c. 1925 by Leonhard Müller Blechspielzeug-Hersteller Nurenberg Germany. He started making Magic Lanterns *) for children in 1895. This film projector was distributed by the well-known toy company of Moses Kohnstam. The logotype LM however still was used.

 *) WHAT WAS A MAGIC LANTERN?

The invention of the Magic Lantern is from the 17th century and seemed "magic" in those days. It was simply an optical projector like the slide projectors used for education and domestic entertainment until the end of the last century.

This toy was made by Ernst Planck, Nuremberg Germany. Late 19th century? He produced tin toy trains and boats, as well as Magic Lanterns projecting small glass slides. A concave mirror behind the oil lamp gathered the light. That kind of light source was quite inefficient and produced weak projections. But I like the chimney and lion paws, so typical for its time.

Small boxes containing a set of twelve strip slides were included. Each miniature glass slide had a series of images. Pushed through the slide slit of the projector one at the time, the pictures were supposed to illustrate a nursery tale. 

SAME IDEA IN "MODERN" PACKAGE

By the late 1950’s toy projectors were still on the market. In those days made in Hong Kong of thin plastic all together and operated by four batteries 1,5 V. Indeed there were an additional holder for real 35 mm photographic slides, but the light was very weak and the pictures appeared slightly distorted on the screen too.