52. Lantern Reports World War One 2017-06-14T12:05:50+00:00

52. Lectures on War

Lantern Reports on World War One

This huge (26 x 40”) poster on World War One, was produced by The Novelty Slide Co. of NY.  As can be vividly seen here, the company specialized in marketing disaster, presented in a big and bold manner.  Its repertoire included lantern shows on the Assassination of Duke Ferdinand, the Mississippi Flood, and the Titanic. (Click for a different Titanic show.)

The Novelty Slide Co. claimed that the slide pictures of WWI were taken by their own photographers, and a large part of the show’s appeal was its timeliness and authenticity.  Unfortunately, the WWI shows themselves do not live up to their billing.  Most of the slides are of castles and forts—standard travelogue material.  The few slides of troops mostly show the two sides standing around.

The two slides shown here are more interesting than most, but the slap-dash nature of The Novelty Slide Company’s production is evident in the black exposure across the top of the dirigible slide.

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