December 12th 2019

Magic Lanterns - Pictures in the Parlour by Kevin Varty

'Pictures in the Parlour' with speaker, Kevin Varty. You may remember that Kevin spoke to us in April this year about sweets and chocolates invoking fond memories. This time his love of Magic Lanterns will start our Christmas off sweetly!

There will be refreshments to extend the evening and details of these will follow later.

Review of the Evening

Kevin explained that Magic Lanterns were in their heyday in Victorian times but in fact were an early form of entertainment beginning in the 17th century. They began with candles as their light source and these caused many fires and burns to operators but there was nothing to put in their place at the time. The images on the slides were often gory - bleeding nuns or skeletal brides and most of the audience were so drugged that they didn’t complain.

There are different types of slides and Kevin showed us a variety. Slipping slides do exactly that - one image slips on top of another to give movement - rolling eyes, tipping hat, moving items. Panoramic slides give more movement - boats, swans etc moving down a river, hot air balloon appearing overhead. Kaleidoscope effect - showing beautiful patterns in amazing colours, considering how long ago these slides were produced.

The Fountain was the oldest slide he had and that was produced in 1816.

He completed his talk by showing a series of slides depicting a Children’s Christmas story and telling the story alongside the images.

Kevin was very enthusiastic about his hobby and had many stories and jokes throughout his presentation, interacting with his audience. We look forward to a return visit next year with another subject close to his heart.

Following this very interesting talk, members were invited to partake in a delicious supper prepared by the committee and enjoy another drink, served by our willing barman, Colin. Raffle prizes were won by 6 happy people and everyone went off home with Christmas wishes ringing in their ears.

Magic Lantern Show

Supper!