All,

 

I have a friend who has a bunch of slides which I think are a type of lantern slides.  My friend would like to know how to care for them and more info about creation of these types of slides.

 

I have lantern slides in collections at my workplace and I know what to do with them.  I thought, mistakenly it may be, that lantern slides were all one size and basically made up of two pieces of heavy glass.  My friend's slides are about 2 1/4 by 2 3/4.  Cardboard, with grommets in each corner, hold very thin pieces of glass together.  Or at least I assume it's 2 pieces of glass but they are very thin.  It also seems that some of the slides are hand colored.  The cardboard is stamped with Victor Animatograph, Davenport, IA on almost every one.  My friend's grandfather used these slides, of European cathedrals, for presentations in the late 1920s. 

 

I did a listserv and Google search, plus looked in a couple reference books.  All I found,  on Google, was quite a bit of info about Alexander Victor and his company in Davenport, IA.  And places that have lantern slide projectors for sale or on display.

 

What I really want to know is....are these a type of lantern slide?  Were these widely used?  And the big question....how to care for and store them.  Oh, someone told my friend to clean the dust off of them with distilled water and a Q tip, which doesn't sound like a good thing to do.  

 

Many thanks!

Nancy Freeman, Records Manager/Archivist

Nat. Wildlife Research Center

4101 LaPorte Ave.

Fort Collins, CO  80521

(970) 266-6023