Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Additional Online Media

Catalog Data

Creator:
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Culture and the Arts  Search this
Extent:
17 Glass slides
0.15 Cubic feet (1 box)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Glass slides
Cartoons (humorous images)
Lantern slides
Advertisements
Place:
Buffalo (N.Y.)
Date:
1914-1925
Summary:
This collection consists of seventeen glass lantern slides depicting World War I advertising and propaganda images. The images include clothing advertisements, home furnishings, local events, treasury and stamp savings, organizations such as the American Red Cross and Merchant Marines, and tips on rationing.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists of seventeen lantern slides related to World War I efforts, advertisements, and miscellaneous use. There is no information about who created or produced the slides. The slides depict tips for rationing food and clothing, calls from the American Red Cross and the Merchant Marines to assist in the war effort, and promotions to buy treasury and stamp savings bonds. The advertisements depict clothing, home furnishings, local events, and boxing matches. The single miscellaneous lantern slide depicts a humorous scene of a family living in close quarters.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into three series. Series 1: War Effort, 1914-1919 Series 2: Advertisements, 1914-1925 Series 3: Miscellaneous, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Lantern slides came into existence during the nineteenth century and continued into the early twentieth century. Lantern slides are typically glass plates with an image imprinted on them. A projector casts light through the slide, which passes through a lens that focuses the image on the projected screen. Slides gained popularity in classroom settings and for use between theater shows during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They acted as advertisements and service announcements for the theaters while the projection crew swapped out movie reels. With the advent of movie trailers and advertisement films, lantern slides fell in popularity but their legacy remains as the precursor to slide projectors created during the 1950s through the 1980s.
Materials in the Archives Center:
Robert Bagby Stereographs and Lantern Slides collection (AC1185) Lantern Slide Collection (AC0686) Division of Cultural History Lantern Slides and Stereographs (AC0945)
Provenance:
Donated by Janes Bachelet on April 28, 2000.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Hotels  Search this
Clothing stores  Search this
Men's clothing  Search this
Men's clothing industry -- 1900-1960  Search this
World War, 1914-1918  Search this
Boxing -- Tournaments -- United States  Search this
Clothing manufacture  Search this
Cartooning  Search this
Food conservation  Search this
Merchant Marine -- United States  Search this
Boxing  Search this
Tailoring  Search this
American Red Cross  Search this
Genre/Form:
Cartoons (humorous images)
Lantern slides
Advertisements -- 20th century
Citation:
World War I Theater Lantern Slides, circa 1914-1925, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.1294
See more items in:
World War One Theater Lantern Slides
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8d4426dd5-bf31-404a-9036-7ee51c57dd37
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1294