From 1850, photographic slides - introduced by the Langenheim Brothers in the USA - were used in the magic lantern. Audiences could see photographic views of the world, at a time when photographic reproductions in books and magazines were unknown. (Left: Newquay lifeboat, England). Improved light-sources and projection lenses meant that the views, usually of very fine photographic quality, were impressive when projected. Photographic life-model story slides, popular in Britain, were usually filmed against painted backdrops, such as this pub interior.
Travellers illustrated descriptions of their voyages with their own camera shots converted into lantern slides, and scientists and professional lecturers illustrated their talks with photographic examples of their specialist subjects, available in their thousand from slide manufacturers. The common 3 1/2 inch square (3 1/2 by 4inch in the USA) photographic lantern slide was still widely used until World War Two.
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