Optical toys
Magic Lanterns and Peep Shows
Magic Lantern shows were an early form of pre-cinema and can be traced back as far as the 17th century. Quite intricate effects of movement and scene switching could be achieved, to the delight and sometimes fear of incredulous audiences.
[image coming soon]
The Magic Lantern, print by Isaak Haid, sold by Rosselin of Paris, possibly 1830s/1840s?
Small travelling lantern and peep shows were hawked around the towns of Europe and were popular with children and adults alike. Prints of peep shows were also a conventional means of introducing a published series of prints, as with Paul Sandby's Cries of London (1760).
[image coming soon]
La Vue - an etching of a peep show by Le Prince, 1774
Magic lanterns survived into the twentieth century and are the ancestors of slide projectors. They could be purchased from opticians shops. 'What the Butler Saw' machines were a popular entertainment at the British seaside.
[image coming soon]
Magic lantern by J.Lizars, Opticians of Glasgow. The grey metal lamp housing has been adapted for a modern light bulb, hence the chimney has been discarded.
Did you know?
You can request to view a DVD in the museum entitled From Magic Lantern to Movies - The Optical Magic Lantern Journal 1889-1903 (2010). This is a marvellous resource, published by the Magic Lantern Society, of scanned images from a popular trade journal of the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras. It was the only magazine of its time dedicated to the projected image, though it also covered photography, lighting technology and general science.
Drawing Aids
A Camera Lucida was an instrument, usually of brass, with prisms in the head working a bit like a periscope. They were used by artists to project the scene they wished to draw, such as a house, onto the paper. They then traced over the image. The first was designed by Wollaston in 1807.
[image coming soon]
19th century Camera Lucida by Dollond
Educational Toys
There is a large range of educational optical toys available on the market including basic microscopes, telescopes and binoculars.
Microscience Microscope Set by Eastcolight (Hong Kong) Ltd and sold through supermarkets, 2003. The set included a blue and silver-coloured microscope (eyepiece, focusing knob, revolving turret, stage with two clips, mirror and battery-powered illumination lamp), two cylindrical collecting vials, a small box of adhesive slide labels, one prepared slide (enclosing an insect wing), two blank slides (top and bottom) and a 3x magnifier.
Not all such toys are quite what they seem. The 'Action Man' Extreme Bath Viewer licensed by the toy maker Hasbro (2003) was a shower gel dispenser with fully functioning binoculars that could even be used, if desired, under water!
Joke Spectacles
Funny glasses can make us all laugh. They have been made to mark particular occasions, to suggest silly characters or to showcase disconcerting optical effects.....
It's Halloween and your spectacle frames are not only made from human 'bones', but press a button and the haunting skull-bridge begins to blink and emits an eerie sound. Spooky!
Geezer Glasses - Fashion Focals for Four-Eyed Fuddyduds, (2001). Everyone remembers the class swot with his or her thick bottle lens spectacles, but stop and think for a moment... he or she probably didn't enjoy making 'a spectacle' of themselves at the time.
The 'Eyepoppers' holographic lens spectacles from California (where else?) are a great indoor party piece but are not UV-protected and therefore could not be recommended for use as sunglasses! The same company produced a 'Spectrix Laser Visor' with holographic lenses that 'transform light into multiple rainbows' (c.2000).
Toys featuring vision aids
Specs The Pocket Dragon
Spring is in the air and here at the MusEYEum we're feeling playful so here is something from our toy collection. With St George's Day approaching on April 23rd we felt it appropriate to share with you our very own green-winged dragon although this one is not at all threatening. This is a plastic figure in the form of the character Specs, from the cartoon series 'Pocket Dragon Adventures' (1998). You'll note that he is wearing an oversized pair of yellow spectacles, presumably because he did not seek the services of a qualified dispensing optician.
 |
One episode of the series was called 'Rose Colored Specs'. After breaking Specs' enormous glasses, the Dragons used their Book of Spells to produce a new pair, this time with rose-tinted lenses. These spectacles caused Specs (and each of the others in turn) to see and hear what they wished to, rather than what was actually there, resulting in some dangerous consequences, including going over a waterfall. In the end Binky helped save them, because she likes to see the world just as it is, and was thus immune to the effect of the lenses.
Pocket Dragons were and continue to be a popular range of collectibles designed by Mr Real Musgrave of Texas. Not very many souvenirs of the cartoon series were made, however, because the series (supplied by BKN International AG of Germany) was cancelled in 1999. Thus even the most unlikely of recent objects can become rare collectibles.
Try searching for the term *toy* in our online catalogue, to see what other fun things we have.
© Copyright 2013 The College of Optometrists - Registered as a Charity no: 1060431
