Thousands of ‘magic lantern’ slides show what daily life was like 120 years ago

More than 2,600 photos provide a time machine to the Victorian era.

The pictures show Bradford, West Yorkshire in the late 1800s and early 1900s, depicting the city post-industrialisation, when it became the ‘wool capital of the world’.

They are ‘majic lantern’ images, meaning they are displayed with an early type of projector that uses artificial light, from a bulb or candle flame, designed to show hand-painted images, prints or photographs on a glass slide.

The set, produced by models who were either volunteers or the photographer’s family and friends, has been acquired by The National Science and Media Museum.

They were first developed in the 17th century but were commonly used until the mid-20th century as a popular form of entertainment and precursor to film technologies.

The newly acquired collection is now being documented, photographed, treated, rehoused, and stored by the museum.

And they will later be added to its extensive collection of magic lantern slides.

Vanessa Torres, conservator at the National Science and Media Museum, said she was thrilled that the museum was preserving this unique snapshot of history.

She said: ‘Our collections are constantly growing, and new acquisitions can take on many different shapes and sizes.

‘When we acquired this large collection of magic lantern slides, it was a truly a cross-department effort to document, conserve, and digitise the objects to ensure that these fascinating images can be accessed and enjoyed by everyone.’

The National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, West Yorkshire, opened in 1983, and has since become one of the most visited UK museums outside London.

It draws on more than three million objects from its national collection to explore the science and culture of image and sound technologies and their impact on our lives.

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