Manufacturers, importers and suppliers of magic lanterns a-b

		MANUFACTURERS, IMPORTERS, AND RETAILERS. D-G
		References: To produce this extensive list the following sources were consulted: Encyclopaedia of the Magic Lantern. The Magic Lantern Society, London, England, 2001. Van Toverlantaarn tot Kinematograaf. Vera Tietjens-Schuurman. Stichting Peter Bonnet Museum, Rottevalle, Friesland, the Netherlands, 1979. Laterna Magica, Zauberwelt und Faszination des optischen Spielzeugs. Ernst Hrabalek. Keysers Sammlerbibliothek G.m.b.H., Regensburg, Germany, 1985. and others.
		DALE & Co. Ltd., H. Lantern maker who made Dale's Scenic Lantern, a lantern of strong construction, intended for theatrical use. (c. 1888)
		DALLMEYER, J.H. Founder of an optical equipment manufacturing company in London from the 1860s to the early 1900s. The German immigrant Dallmeyer became one of the leading British lens manufacturers during the later part of the 19th century, producing among other things lenses specifically for the magic lantern. After his death in 1883 his son Thomas Rudolphus took over the busyness.
		DANCER, JOHN BENJAMIN In 1835 John took over his fathers instrument making business and became one of Manchester's most important 19th-century scientific instrument makers. In 1841 he entered into partnership with A. Abraham in Liverpool and established a branch of the business as Abraham & Dancer at 13 Cross Street, Manchester. From 1845-1878 he continued in business under his own name. After that time part of the company was transferred to his daughters Elisabeth and Anna. He was one of the most important British magic lantern innovators.
		DANNHORN, MAX This well-known German magic lantern manufacturer, founded in 1872 in Nuremberg, produced magic lanterns noted for their extraordinary beauty. Some of their products can be identified by the initials MD, or by a stamped fir tree; unfortunately their trade mark was rarely applied to the products, which makes the identification of their lanterns rather difficult. After Wold War I the majority of the shares were sold to Gebrüder Bing in 1921, after which Dannhorn's production was absorbed into the Bing group. (see also: Magic Lanterns Max Dannhorn)
		DARKER, CHARLES L. The English opticians father and son Darker produced magic lanterns and lantern attachments, including a biunial, in London. (c. 1865)
		DARLOT French lens manufacturers, established in Paris. See also: French & Co.
		DAWKINS & Co., W.A. English manufacturer and distributor of magic lanterns. The firm opened a retail outlet in Birmingham in 1894, offering lanterns and slides for hire.
		DAY, WILFRED ERNEST LYTTON British film equipment dealer and collector of cinema and pre-cinema. Worked for Walter Tyler Ltd before setting up his own dealership in London. When World War I broke out in 1914 Day produced and sold slides on patriotic themes and topical events. His historic equipment collection that he amassed, now restored in Paris, is recognised as one of the most important of its kind in the world. (1873-1936)
		DE COMMERCE, J. American slide company, active in New York in the period before the First World War, offering news and song slide sets.
		DELAGRAVE Paris magic lantern dealer, c. 1878. Delagrave marketed the bi-lampadaire magic lantern made by Henri-Alexandre Lefèvre.
		DEMARIA, JULES In 1893 Jules became a partner in his father's business in Paris with the formation of the company Demaria et Fils. In 1907 his two sons joined the business which was named Demaria Frères SA now. On 10 June 1908 the company absorbed the Lapierre business to form the Demaria-Lapierre company. (1890s-1920s)
		DEMARIA-LAPIERRE SA French magic lantern manufacturing company. Amalgamation from the Demaria and Lapierre companies in 1908. After the amalgamation the company directed its efforts more towards the production of professional film projectors and projection lanterns for lecturers. The Lapierre brothers later began to produce their own film projectors for amateur use.
		DENECKE, HEINRICH Denecke can be considered the pioneer of the industrial production of magic lanterns in large numbers. He was the example for a new generation of successful manufacturers such as Ernst Plank and Jean Schoener. He was active in Nuremberg from 1859-1875.
		DENNIS & Co. English company that took over the family business from Bamforth & Co. in the early 1990s. The company is located in Scarborough.
		DESCH One of the greatest French slide makers and painters, based in Paris. The Desch Studio produced phantasmagoria and dissolving view slides in quantity, based mainly on engraved outlines with the colours applied by hand. He also offered amazing mechanical slides and large chromatropes. Some slides bear his signature and many are dated. (1850s-1910s)
		DISCOPE COLMONT France. Manufacturer of photographical equipment.
		DÖBBLER, JOH. MICH. German magic lantern maker and court optician in Berlin. (c. 1720)
		DORRET & MARTIN Photographic firm in London, producing magic lantern slides, founded by H. G. Dorret and Paul Martin. (1899-1926)
		DOUBELL, EDWARD HENRI British lantern slide painter for the Royal Polytechnic Institution and a partner in the firm of Childe & Doubell. In 1880 Doubell applied for a patent for a rain effect slide.
		DOUGLASS LIGHT Co., THE A small family business of American magic lantern manufacturers, founded in 1904 by the brothers A.J., J.C. and Bert Douglass and based in Seattle. They made the lanterns themselves while buying in the lenses from Baush & Lomb. Slides were sold or rented. (1908-1930s)
		DRÄGER German manufacturer of oxygen apparatus and gas projection devices in Lübeck, founded by Heinrich Dräger. The firm is still active today world wide. (1889-...)
		DUBOSCQ, LOUIS JULES French optician and lantern maker, Paris. In 1834 Louis took up an apprenticeship in the workshop of the optician Soleil, who should become his father in law. After Soleil's retirement in 1849 Duboscq took over the business and ran it until his death in 1886. Dubosqu made the best French lantern of the 19th century, the superb brass Lanterne Photogénique, introduced in 1850, and many other lanterns and optical instruments. After his death the engineer François-Philbert Pellin took over his business.
		DUINEN, P.R. Firm P.R. van Duinen, Prinsengracht 530, Amsterdam. Dutch sales representatives with export of films to the Dutch colonies East- and West-Indië. Hiring out films to Youth cinemas. Later the firm Kinotechniek, Amsterdam, took over the business.
		DUMOTIEZ, LOUIS-JOSEPH and PIERRE-FRANÇOIS From the end of the 1770s the brothers Dumotiez operated a workshop in Paris, making optical and scientific instruments. Among their clients was Etienne-Gaspard Robertson. (see also: Phantasmagoria)
		DUNSCOMBE, MATTHEW WILLIAM English optician and lantern and slide dealer, Bristol. Apprenticed to the optician John Braham at the age of 14, Dunscombe continued to work for Braham until 1874 when he took over his business and continued it under his own name. It is uncertainly whether Dunscombe made lanterns himself, but he certainly sold and hired lanterns and lantern slides of all types.
		EASTMAN KODAK Co. American photographic company, founded by George Eastman. Manufacturer of a wide range of photographic products and materials. In the U.S.A. Kodak produced the Kodiopticon lantern with electric arc or bulb illuminant from 1913 to 1915. A water filled cell cooled the light before it reached the lantern slide.
		EASTMAN, GEORGE 1854-1932. Founder of the Eastman Kodak Co.
		EBERLEIN & KRUG (EKA) EKA is an abbreviation for Eberlein & Krug, Apparatebau, Fuerth, Germany. This company was founded in 1924 and manufactured home projectors (8 mm and 16 mm, super 8 and also 35 mm) and toys until the 1970s under the EKA brand. It was located in Karolinenstraße 26/28. The company still exists as Eberlein Apparatebau GmbH in Langenzenn.
		EBSWORTH, R. English optical and scientific instrument maker. (c. 1820s)
		ECKENRATH, C. German stereoscope manufacturer in Berlin, claiming 'the largest and most extensive' stock in Germany. (1856-1911) The business was founded around 1856 as Stereoscope Trade & Factory and continued under different owners until c. 1911. From c. 1865 magic lanterns and slides from the Nuremberg manufacturer Heinrich Denecke were included in the product range. The purchase of Nuremberg magic lanterns was replaced around 1878 by the company's own production which was maintained until the closure of the business around 1911.
		EDISON MANUFACTURING Co. American electrical apparatus manufacturer in New Jersey. Supplier of portable oxygen generators and ether saturators for lantern illumination.
		ELLIOTT-CLYMER Co. American lantern manufacturer in Auburn, New York who produced a sciopticon-type combination lantern/enlarger in the 1890s.
		EMDEN, A. VAN A. van Emden was a Dutch importer and supplier of photographic and film equipment in Amsterdam.
		ENSIGN Ltd. The British Ensign Ltd came into being from the cooperation between W. Butcher and Sons Ltd and the Houghtons Ltd, first leading to the forming of Houghton-Butcher Ltd and later, in 1930, to the Ensign Ltd. The company produced a lot of well known lanterns, like the Optiscope Nr 6, the Universal Diascope, the Ensign Junior projector and last but not least the Mickey Mouse Magic lantern, sold for displaying the special 3 1/4" Disney slides, offered by special arrangement with Walt Disney for the Mickey Mouse Movie Stories, published in the 1930s. (See also: Magic Lanterns, Ensign, Mickey Mouse Magic lantern outfit and Mickey Mouse toy lantern outfit) (c. 1930s)
		ENTERPRISE OPTICAL MANUFACTURING Co. American projection equipment manufacturer in Chicago, Illinois. The company produced limelight and electrical illuminants and was a main supplier to the American mail-order retailers Sears, Roebuck & Co. (c. 1890-1930)
		ERNECKE, FERDINANT German manufacturer of lantern and slides and photographic supplies. Ernecke made lanterns ranging from simple school sciopticons to universal projection machines for the projection of both transparent and opaque objects. He also supplied lantern slides in the 8.5 x 10 cm format.
		ERNEMANN WERKE A.G. German manufacturer of projecting apparatus, founded by Heinrich Ernemann. Sometimes the trade mark only mentions his name, later also 'Ernemann Werke A.G. - Dresden'. After World War I the company cooperated with Krupp and became Krupp-Ernemann.
		EXCELSIOR SLIDE Co., THE American dealer in slides, some of which were hand coloured, in New York. (c. 1912)
		FALK, JOHANN The smallest of the German magic lantern manufacturers in Nuremberg. Falk started as a sales representative for Georges Carette and founded his own company about 1895. By 1907 Falk took over at least part of the production of Jean Schoenner. The company set up a close cooperation with Gebrüder Bing in the 1920s, producing some products with a combined JF and BW trademark. In 1935 Falk sold all of his interest to the Schaller brothers and production was gradually switched to the Noris line of amateur cameras and projectors. (See also: Magic Lanterns Johann Falk)
		FEINAK German manufacturer of magic lantern slides.
		FENAUT, JAQUES DESIRE French lantern manufacturer and inventor of a kind of episcope fitted with an external mirror which reflected the light of the sun into the interior of its casing. (1870s)
		FERON-VRAU, PAUL Director of Maison de la Bonne Presse.
		FERRIER ET SOULIER French producers of photographic images on glass, for stereoscope and magic lanterns. In the 1850s Claude-Marie Ferrier worked for Louis Jules Duboscq and around 1858 he set up his own company with his son Jaques-Alexandre and Charles Soulier. In 1864 Léon and Levy acquired Soulier's interest and some years later the Ferrier's were bought out.
		FILMOSTO Filmosto was founded in Dresden in 1924 as an optical company. They specialized in projection technology (slide projectors, projection lenses). Via the VEB Aspecta Dresden, Filmosto is one of the founders of the VEB Pentacon Dresden, which was founded in 1964. In 1924 the Filmdienst Jost & Co. KG was founded, which was renamed Filmosto Projektion GmbH in 1932 and finally in 1937 to Filmosto-Projektoren Johannes Jost. Products of the company were on the one hand video tapes and on the other two slide projectors, the Aladin and the Bube. During the Second World War they also manufactured parts for radio sets. In 1945 the company was largely destroyed so that after the war only household items could be made. Projectors were only repaired. In 1948 Filmosto was expropriated and renamed Mechanik Filmosto Projektion VEB Dresden.
		FISCHEL Jr., E. Dutch retailer who sold magic lanterns and other optical apparatus. Settled in Amsterdam.
		FLEISCHMANN & BLOEDEL (F & B) Salomon Fleischmann and Jean Bloedel, German manufacturers of magic lanterns, the successor to J. Berlin (J.B.), located in the city of Fürth in Bayern.
		F.N.N. German magic lantern manufacturer in Nuremberg, Bavaria. See Neumeyer, Fritz.
		FONTAYNE, C. Manufacturer of magic lanterns. A gold coloured plate says: “Patented by C. Fontayne, August 24, 1875”.
		FRANCKS, JACOB English optician trading in Manchester and a prominent advertiser of magic lanterns and slides, both for sale and hire. The business was trading under several names.
		FRENCH & Co., BENJAMIN American photographic dealers, based in Boston, Massachusetts. French $ Co. imported the Darlot lenses from Paris, which were frequently engraved with their own "B.F. & Co." mark, beside the Darlot trade mark.
		GAMAGE Ltd., A.W. In 1878 Arthur Walter Gamage set up shop in Holborn, London, with a frontage of only 5 feet; by 1904 this had grown into the People's Popular Emporium with a floor space of two acres, giving the public for the first time an opportunity to do all their shopping under one roof. Its speciality was toys and games, and according to the huge mail order catalogues also a lot of lantern material was stocked.
		GANZ, JOHANNES Swiss photographic dealer and magic lantern manufacturer in Zurich. Ganz started as a lithographer and amateur conjuror. In 1848 he opened a photographers studio in Zurich and in 1875 he made an improved sciopticon lantern, the Pinakoscop. His son Rudolf and later his grandson Emil continued to design projectors and audio-visual installations. The firm is still active today. (1848-....)
		GAUMONT, LEON French lantern and cinematograh dealer, active in Paris. Most of the lanterns and mechanical slides were supplied by Clément et Gilmer and Arthur Laverne. In 1895 he founded the company Gaumont et Cie which became one of the leading manufacturers of cinematographic equipment in the world.
		GAUMONT ET Cie. See: GAUMONT, LEON.
		G.B.N. Trademark of Gebrüder Bing, Nuremberg.
		GCCoN Trademark of Georges Carette & Co., Nuremberg. Carette's original trademark was a winged figure, accompanied by the words 'Jouets fins - Fine toys - Feine Spielwaren', but this was supplanted in 1895 by the company's initial letters, 'GCCoN' on an applied tin plate. From 1905 until the cessation of production in 1917 the trademark was a sprocket-wheel with the letters 'GCCoN'.
		GENERAL TRANSPARENT DISPLAY Co. American manufacturers of effect slides, Chicago, Illinois. Beside the normal format they produced slides in the sizes 3 1/4 x 4 and 4 x 5 inches, specially for the Brenograph.
		GENNERT, G. American manufacturers of lantern slide masks and mask cutting equipment in New York and Chicago.
		GILMER, GEORGES ARTHUR Partner of Gaston Clément in Clément & Gilmer.
		GOERTZ, C.P. Goertz, Berlin. German manufacturer of photographic and cinematographic equipment. In partnership with Hahn he produced the Hahn-Goertz projectors.
		GRAY, CHARLES A patent assigned to Charles Gray and Henry Kemp, residing, respectively at No 11 Crooked Lane, and No. 7 Thavies Inn, both in the city of London, England, Opticians, has to do with magic lanterns holders and dates 1886.
		GREEN, E.T. English slide painter who joined in 1881 York & Son as a scenic painter and stage manager for their Life Model slides. (See also: Life Models)
		GRIENDEL, (also recorded as GRÜNDEL), JOHANN FRANZ German optician, mathematician and architect. From 1670 until 1677 he was manufacturing optical instruments, including magic lanterns. Probably the beginnings of the magic lantern manufacturing industry in Nuremberg can be dated to him. Griendel produced lanterns of various sizes, evidently for sale.
		GRUYTER, DE Around 1892 the Dutch firm De Gruyter in Amsterdam sold among other things English-made magic lanterns, like 'The Mineral oil Bijou', 'The London', and the 'Phantasmagorias'.
		GUILBERT, GASTON French lantern and lantern equipment manufacturer. Together with his business partner Romanet he founded a company in Paris for making projection equipment. The lanterns they made were very robust and were equipped with excellent lenses. The company had branches in London and Brussels. (1903-1930s)
		GUILLEMINOT, BOESPFLUG & Cie, R. French manufacturer of gelatine-bromide plates. "La Parfaite, placques au Lactate d'Argent pour positifs sur verre et projections." (c. 1900)
		G.W.W. Trademark of G. W. Wilson & Co.