News : Magic Lantern: Historic theater equipment demonstrated at Palace

A small crowd of area residents learned about some of the oldest cinematic technology in history from a man who is involved in a Guiness Book of World Records project.

Michael Zahs, a retired teacher from the Washington, Iowa, area, brought a magic lantern and slides to the Vinton Palace for the “Music and Magic Lanterns” event.

Accompanied by the Red Cedar Chamber musicians, Zahs demonstrated a still-working electric magic lantern from 1913 – with its original bulb.

Zahs showed the audience some examples of the slides with painted images and moving parts, although most of the show included images of other slides from that era in digital format. He also taught them some history, explaining that the magic lantern dates back several hundred years, when whale oil lanterns were the source of light.

Before becoming popular in theaters, where they were often accompanied by music or poetry, the magic lanterns were a religious teaching device. Zahs explained the history of lanterns in a style called phantasmagoria. One of the most well-known uses of this technique is credited to a 17th Century Jesuit priest named Athanasias Kircher, who used smoke and painted images to present frightening images of the punishment of sinners.

“Through this art, godless people could easily be prevented from committing many vices if the devil’s image is cast onto the mirror and projected into a dark place.”

Zahs told the audience that the magic lantern was used in this way to attempt to convert Protestants and other non-believers to Catholicism.

Iowa’s world-record-setting historical theater

On Sunday and Monday, Zahs and many others will gather at the State Theater in Washington, to honor that theater as the official Guiness Book of World Records honoree as the longest continually running theater in the entire world.

Frank Brinton opened the theater, originally called The Graham Opera House, in 1894.

While the seating and exterior of the building have been updated, some of the interior remains the same as it did 122 years ago, said Zahs.

Representatives from Guiness will be on hand Sunday when Zahs shows some original movies from that era – on the original hand-cranked projector, which has been restored at the University of Iowa. Zahs will turn the crank the way Brinton and his crew did in the 1890s. Some of those films appeared on the Palace screen last year, when Zahs brought his collection of old movies to Vinton.

Zahs said on Thursday that he had just received confirmation of the Guiness designation.

See more photos of Thursday's presentation HERE.

Click HERE for information about the Brinton Film project event Sunday and Monday.

For more information about Brinton and his historic theater, see the links below:

http://washingtoncountyhistoricalsociety-iowa.org/feature4_aug_09.html

http://www.kalonanews.com/articles/2013/07/24/news/doc51efed904b0b0238005517.txt