Magic Lantern Show

LINDSAY LAMBERT of Ottawa, Ontario has presented magic lantern shows for many years now using an authentic magic lantern updated with a modern halogen bulb "since the railway frowns on passengers carrying tanks of dangerous gases on the train to generate the lime light illumination". Here you see "Professor" Lambert adjusting the illumination on his vintage projector prior to the show. Most of the slides used are original lantern slides including special animated slides, hand coloured slides and photographs.

With a background in theatre, "Professor" Lambert provided song and sound effects to accompany his show. His choice of slides gave the feel of the magic lantern shows of yesteryear while illustrating a history of the shows and their typical content and social messages -- all this with thumbnail histories of such diverse subjects as lighting, effect of bicycles and the auto on roads, rideau canal, and the train cars built to carry immigrants to the prairies.

I have picked a small selection of his slides to give you an idea of the breadth of his subject matter. If you have a change to see one of his shows, DON'T MISS IT! His patter, song, sound effects, and manipulation of the animated slides bring home the amazing thrill of the magic lantern shows of a century ago.

ABOUT THE IMAGES. Click on any image and in a few seconds you will see an enlarged view in a separate window. Close the smaller window to return to this page.

Please note that these images are the property of Lindsay Lambert who has kindly allowed us to display them. The images were captured from the screen during the slide show using a Nikon 990 digital camera and adjusted and sized in Photoshop.

  Bob Carter

My card, sir...	Magic Lantern	Business end.	History of light
Bob the Fireman	hand painted series	Personal transport	Sound Effects
Cheap Seats	to the West	An early animation	series
pre-TV	Animated Slide	Music Introduction	Mechanical monkey
early automobile	and a bus!	Ottawa Trolley	and inside...
Poor in London	and in Toronto	and working at home	Demon drink
Animation slide	in action	Another animation	see the mouse?
First Nation folk	High tech wigwam	Montreal Harbour	...and Ice Train
Steamship era	Animated windmill	A girl's dream	animation
WWII pin-up	Vintage Good Night