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A rather extensive collection of mechanical slides
part 8.


Go to: part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 part 7 part 8 part 9 part 10
  part 11 part 12 part 13 part 14 part 15 part 16 part 17 part 18 part 19 part 20





A good single rackwork mechanical magic lantern slide showing a sturdy knight with 19 head changes.
Manufacturer: Merkelbach & Co, Amsterdam. Sizes: 7" x 4" (18 x 10 cm).

The effect is achieved by the use of two glasses, one revolving in front of the other. The two glass discs are mounted in a solid wood frame, one a fixture and the other free to revolve. The movable glass has a brass collar with a series of vertical teeth around its upper edge. A steel pinion with a matching toothed-end engages the rackwork. On turning the handle the rackwork is driven round by the pinion causing the glass disc to rotate. The rackwork disc is held in position by a small brass finger.

 


Hand painted single slipping slide showing a dancing Scotsman. Slide measures 7 x 4 inches (ca 18 x 10 cm).

 


 
 

 

This is a hand-painted double slipping slide, which means that one piece of glass is stationary (in this case the glass that depicts the man while he is fattest) and a second and third piece of glass can be pushed or pulled slowly (in this case simultaneously and in opposite direction so that the man slowly gets slimmer and slimmer or fatter and fatter while the black painted dots at the two glasses partly cover or uncover his body). Slide is 4" x 7" (c. 10 x 18 cm).
The animation gives only an impression of the effect. In reality shifting the two moving glasses has to be done much more smoothly of course.

 
When this double slipping slide is shown to the audience the movement of the ship will also be more smoothly. Computer animations require a lot of memory and loading will take also rather much time. That's why we always have to search for a compromise.
Sizes of the frame are 18 x 10 cm. Both slideable glasses are operated at the same time. One hand unfurls the sails (not in this animation), the other moves the ship over the waves.

More magic lantern slides that depict ships are at 'On the Wild Billows....'.

 
A rare and very special mechanical magic lantern slide of a man and woman jumping in turn. There are two rectangular slide parts mounted in a wooden frame, one depicting the man and the other the woman, side by side. The two part can shift independently from another, but a clever lever system makes one part go down when the other one goes up, giving the illusion that they are both jumping in turn. The image in the frame measures 7.5 cm square.


Man raising his hat. Usually movement of this kind is effected by means of two glasses in a wooden frame.


One glass is a fixture and contains the subject in two distinct positions; the other is slipping and contains some black painted dots. Movement is effected by alternately masking off one and then another part of the subject by the black dots.
This unusual type of mechanical slide differs from the others by having only one glass which is a fixture and contains the entire subject in two distinct positions. Each position is alternately hidden or uncovered by a masking device consisting of a shutter actuated by a lever, both made from thin brass plate and are joined together by a pivoted connecting strip.
 
 


 


Single slipping magic lantern slide that shows a dancing black man. It is labelled on the edge "Dancing Darkie." and the size of the wooden frame is 7" x 4" (c. 18 x 10 cm).

 


Wooden framed hand painted single lever slide.

The frame measures 7 inches x 4 inches (c. 18 x 10 cm).


 


Hand-painted double slipping slide animating the encounter of a fly and a spider in the spider's web with three glass plates. The fixed plate depicts the web. One sliding plate contains the fly and the other the spider.
By sliding the plates independently the fly can first land in the web and then the spider advance on the fly. You can imagine a creative projectionist jiggling the plate containing the fly to simulate its struggles in the web, to the great amusement of his audience.

 
Double slipping slide. Two moving glasses in a wooden frame measuring 7 inches x 4 inches (c. 18 x 10 cm).

More movement slides........
 

 

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Last update: 23-12-2023.
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