Image Gallery: Lockdown Lanterns, The Scarborough Collections

Need something to keep you busy during lockdown? As part of Scarborough Museums Trust’s response to closure due to the current coronavirus crisis, collections manager Jim Middleton is posting regular images from the Trust’s collection of slides and glass plate negatives on Twitter using the hashtag #lockdownlanternslides

Magic lanterns were early image projectors which used a light source to magnify and project images on glass. They were used for both education and entertainment, particularly during the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. The Scarborough Collections (the name given to all the museum objects owned by the Borough of Scarborough, and in the care of Scarborough Museums Trust) contains more than 7,000 such slides and glass plates. Themes consist of historic local buildings including some which no longer exist such as the North Bay pleasure pier, which was destroyed in a storm in 1905, and typical vintage seaside scenes including children rock pooling and bathing beauty contests.

You can see the images by following @SMT_Collections on Twitter. And to view existing posts, search #lockdownlanternslides.