Magic lantern - Simply some funny stories told on magic lantern slides part 12.

A rather extensive collection of funny stories told on magic lantern slides
Part 12


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The one-legged goose A small set of magic lantern slides made by Alfred Pumphrey, c. 1880.

Portrait of Herefordshire gentleman	Gentleman's cook and gardener cutting off one leg of goose while cooking

Gentleman remonstrates with cook, who says the goose only had one, and there were lots more like it	Cook shows the master the geese with one leg
Of course the cook and the gardener will have eaten that goose leg themselves. It was a clever trick. It is normal for geese to stand on one leg in winter to keep warm. They hide one of their legs under their feathers for a while and when it is warm enough, they do this with the other leg.

Firework night Preparing the event which ends in disaster! Superb three slides marked 'Anticipation' 'Celebration' and 'Devastation'. Manufacturer unknown.


The mischievous boys and the peashooter A set of 12 magic lantern slides with life models. The set was made by the English manufacturer W. Rider & Co.







Pat and the Chair Does this set of magic lantern slides by Bamforth and Co. belong in the category of alcohol abuse or should it be included in the collection of funny slide sets? We'll assume the latter. There is only one chair left in Pat's household. The chair has been taken over by his girlfriend Biddy, who has only one bottle of whisky left. They decide to share their meager possessions, but that ends badly. They get an unsolicited lesson in the law of gravity.
		1. Introduction, with Title

2. The household furniture consisted of one chair	3. Pat has the whiskey, but Biddy occupies the chair	4. They agree to join at the whiskey and the chair


5. The chair is prepared as a seat for two	6. Biddy drinks the whiskey and loses her presence of mind	7. They have a lesson in the law of gravitation
The sailor and the donkey A set of 6 magic lantern slides made by Theobald & Co., England. The quality of the slides is unfortunately very poor.


1. Jack, being paid off, decides to have a beano, he buys an umbrella.	2. He hires a donkey and dismisses the driver till he returns.	3. The master absent, the donkey takes it easy. He won't stir.

4. A simoom springing up Jack tries to steer his craft.	5. The donkey, not answering it's helm, both are blown out to sea.	6. The sailor was saved, the donkey was drowned. Jack had to pay up much 'backsheesh'.
	The snow ball The slides are 10 x 8.2 cm; next to the square image a label is stuck with the title of the series and of the plate. This funny set of lantern slides is not complete. Probably one or more slides are missing between #6 and #X.
		1. Joe made a ball as big as an orange

2. And the farther it went the bigger it grew	3. The snow was so deep piggy stepped from his pen	4. And left the poor pig and the ball to their fate


5. Where Mehitable Smith met Mister Sam Gray	6. Just then came along that remarkable ball	X. It was Darwin's latest 'The Descent of Man !

Professor Feeler, the renowned phrenologist A set of 6 amusing magic lantern slides made by J. Green & Son, circa 1890. Phrenology is a pseudoscience that involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits. It is based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or modules.


	The three wise men of Gotham

A small set of magic lantern slides made by Newton & Co. The square slides are labelled with the text: '(COPYRIGHT) BY PERMISSION OF MESSRS F. WARNE CO. The title is written in white ink on the slides. "Three Wise Men of Gotham" is a short story by American writer, poet, actor, and filmmaker Lyman Frank Baum. It is one of the stories in his 1897 collection Mother Goose in Prose. He achieved his greatest fame with the children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In the city of Gotham lived two elderly men who were noted for their great wisdom. One of them, nicknamed Socrates, had a bald head and a long white beard. He walked the streets with a stately step and rarely spoke. At the south gate lived a man nicknamed Sophocles; he too had an appearance of great wisdom and answered the difficult questions that people put to him. (When a man asked him, "Will I win my law case or not?" Sophocles replied, "If it is not decided against you, you will certainly win your case.") An old beggar woman from the city saw these two and saw that they were both impostors and fools. She decided to promote her lazy husband to a third wise man. She washed his beard until it was white and dressed him appropriately; she changed his name from Perry Smith to Pericles, and soon he was proclaimed by the city as the third wise man. The three characters met one day at Pericles' hut, where a group of people had gathered to hear the wise words that would come from their lips. All three were afraid of betraying their ignorance and spoke only reluctantly. Finally, Sophocles gave the verdict that the world is flat. Socrates claimed that it is shaped like a saucer, because otherwise the oceans would flow away, and Pericles said that the world is a hollow sphere, with people living inside. Socrates suggested that they sail to the edge in a boat to find out who was right; the others agreed. On the shore, all the fishing boats were fishing. The three wise men set off in the only available vessel—a large old bowl. The tide carried them over the horizon; the bowl began to leak. Too late, the three realized their danger; and they all admitted that they had been fools. Soon the bowl broke apart, and the people are still waiting for the three wise men to return to them. This magic lantern version fortunately has a happy ending. The three were rescued by a fishing boat.
		A Victor 'Leatherweight' Slide of the Victor Animatograph Company, Davenport Iowa, U.S.A. These slides consist of a single sheet of glass sandwiched between two cardboard frame parts, with a shellac coating on the other side to protect the image from scratching. The size is 8 x 10 cm.
Although the image on the slide is reminiscent of the story of the three wise men, it is actually an illustration of a vintage English nursery rhyme 'Rub a dub dub, Three men in a tub'.
		More.....