A circular tray (see above) was filled with slides and mounted on a base that would then invert and project the images onto a large screen.
For those born too late, this is what the 35 mm slides looked like...
Each slide was about 2"x2", including the mount so the image below is much larger than the actual size...
Slideshows were a fixture for classroom teaching and professional meetings.
Home slideshow parties were all the rage, especially from the 1950s through the 1970s. This woman can hardly contain herself...
Hosts ran the risk of boring their guests to death with slides of their vacation in Sheboygan.
More often than not, the fun was interrupted to fix a slide that had accidentally been inserted the wrong way, resulting in an upside down image of Uncle Fred posing by The Big Nickel.
Alcohol helped...
With the rise of digital media, slide projectors gradually declined in popularity until Kodak discontinued their product in 2004.
How about you, Bitches? Did you own a slide projector or attend home slideshow parties? Do you still have any old slides in the closet?
I had a carousel projector up until about six years ago. It was beyond repair.
ReplyDeleteAll of the old slides are in clear plastic sheets in storage boxes. I have a scanner to convert the slides to digital files.
LX: My friend has a state of the art scanner like that and has converted some slides for me.
DeleteI have to admit I get tired out converting all the stuff of my lifetime. For example: VHS to DVD. And vinyl to cassette to CD to whatever it is I’m using now.
I remember these from school. We didn't get the internet out in our remote rural area til long after I left for the big cities. The also still used them in some of my college classes, esp. art and history and science.
ReplyDeleteThese slide projectors remind me of one of my favorite toys growing up: The View-Master.
My favorite slides were the ones of exotic animals and faraway places, like the Eiffel Tower or the Grand Canyon.
But I never had slides/reels this risqué!
EROS: I loved View-Master! It was a guaranteed babysitter for me, should my mother require some quiet time.
DeleteThe strumpet in last slide in Eros' link (bottom right) has rather overdone her shoulderpads, I feel.
DeleteMR. DeVICE: They’re not angel wings?
DeleteWe were the only member of my extended family, my VERY extended family, not to have one only because my father was too cheap. The numbing evenings I have sat through hours and hours of crappy photo shows (none enlivened by the likes of eroswings' examples) including narration. "That's a mountain." "That's another mountain." "That's LaVerne on a donkey." And me the only one without a drink.
ReplyDeletePEENEE: Sometimes LaVerne was out of focus.
DeleteOr better yet, without her head.
I was very young then, but remember them..... it was all fun and games till the wrong slides ended up in the projector, or someone, not me, made dirty shadow puppets in the light till they reloaded the carousel
ReplyDeleteMISTRESS MADDIE: The dirty shadow puppets were the best bits!
Delete[off-topic. sorry.]
ReplyDeleteOh, Canada!
LX: He obviously hasn’t read the latest scientific research.
DeleteNo. No. And No. I think the Host was born a little too late (and didn't have the right type of boring relative) for such things. Of course, we are aware of the slideshow projector from films and TV, not least the last year's "IT" remake (which was very poor, by the way - bring back Tim Curry!).
ReplyDeleteMR. DeVICE: Although the golden years for home slideshow parties were the 50s-70s, my friends used to hold such parties all through the 90s.
DeleteThey were (and still are) a gay couple so of course their travel photos were uproariously amusing.
Many of the shots they took were close-ups of men’s Speedo-clad buttocks on the beach.
We didn't do slides, but we had the 8 mm movie camera with 2 spot light bar that would leave 3rd degree burns it you got close enough.
ReplyDeleteBut in grade school they had film strips, kind of like a bunch of slides connected on one strip of film. Usually accompanied but a record explaining what you saw on the slide. When it was time to go to the next slide the record made a "boop" sound, ruining the enjoyment of hearing "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies" when learning about The Nutcracker Suite.
BrianB
BrianB: Ah yes, the burning scent of 8 mm.
DeleteI remember filmstrips. And if Blogger would allow me, I would add a link to a photo of a filmstrip projector but it’s not cooperating.
Just what this dump needs....a porn theater....complete with sticky floors.
DeleteMISTRESS MADDIE: I had a link to show you what goes on at the Infomaniac Cinema but for the past couple of days, I've been having trouble linking. You'll just have to use your imagination.
DeleteI'm loving all these strolls down memory lane. We did not have a slide projector, but did have a few slides, why I don't know. Just recently, I was given the family stash & found a shot of myself, so young, so thin, so with hair. It made me want a lobotomy.
ReplyDeleteNORMA: You’ll always be Miss Cocks in Frocks to me.
DeleteAh, to fit into that little number again....
Delete