1896 Paterson Silk Weavers w/ Honus Wagner - Magic Lantern?

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Jobu

I missed your reply, thanks Bob!

You are correct, I don't see any advertising on this and the borders seem like a heavy paper/thick tape, so I think you might be right on with your thinking that this was a kit-produced piece instead of something made for professional distribution - something of a DIY MLS.

This image is known as a cabinet card: https://www.nj.com/passaic-county/20...s-for-90k.html

I am not sure if there is any way to know whether that was produced from a glass negative or not.

Based on all of the good advice in this thread, this seems to be to most likely be a non-professional Magic Lantern Slide that wasn't produced in 1896 but is more likely from the height of Wagner's fame with the Pirates when someone would have wanted to show an old photo of him, so maybe ~1905-1915 would be reasonable.

Hey Bryan,

You could tell in a heartbeat if that was a professionally produced Magic Lantern Slide (MLS). Since your item is on glass, it does seem that someone may have tried to produce their own MLS from the earlier picture. And the fact that you were able to track down and find the actual cabinet/picture is fanatastic as that verifies the subject matter of the item, and that it definitely includes Wagner. A great item, even if produced later than when the photo was originally taken. I doubt it would be the original glass negative from the actual 1896 photo though.

Again, I am no photo expert, but it may be worthwhile to get your item to someone who is, and see if they can tell you any more about it. Great item and image none the less. Imagine there is also some value to the piece as well. Getting it to a photo expert who knows something about MLSs could get you a better idea of how, and when, it was made.

Can't tell for certain from your scans how clear and defined the image is on your glass slide. But as I mentioned before, I have a small collection of about 15-20 baseball themed MLSs primarily from the mid-1910s, and the clarity and definition on those is absolutely amazing. Can only hope your glass slide image is of a similar condition/shape.

Good luck.