"The Flight of Ages"- Magic Lantern Slide

Description

 This slide was made in the late 1890s by Bamforth and Company- a firm based in Holmfirth, England. Bamforth began making magic lantern slides in 1883 and later made silent films and seaside postcards.  This slide is exquisite! Such a magnificent slide would have been beyond the purse of most hobbyists and instead it would have been bought by the professional ‘lanternist’ who used the magic lantern projector (powered by limelight, whale oil or carbon arc lamps) to entertain paying customers in halls throughout the world. 

Adding to the entertainment value of these slides, Bamforth often used them to illustrate the lyrics of popular songs. Love ballads and religious songs were especially common. This slide illustrates part of ‘The Flight of Ages’- whose lyrics are below. 

The Flight of Ages

 I heard a song, a tender song, 'Twas sung for me alone,
In the hush of a golden twilight, When all the world was gone ;
And as long as my heart is beating, As long as my eyes have tears,
I shall hear the echces ringing From out the golden years.
I have a rose, a white, white rose. 'Twas given me long ago, When the song had fallen to silence,
And the stars were dim and low ; It lies in an old book faded,
Between the pages white, But the ages cannot dim the dream
It brought to me that night. I have a love, the love of years, Bright as the purest star,
As radiant, sweet, and wonderful, As hopeless and as far;
I have a love, the love of years, It's light alone I see,
And I must worship hope and love, However far it be. It is the love that speaks to me Is that sweet song of old,
It is, the dream of golden years, Those petals white unfold:
And every star may fall from heaven, And every rose decay,
But the ages cannot change my love Or take my dream- or take my dream away.

The slide was part of a numbered set and the lanternist would have ordered them all to match the lyrics sung live by a singer. We know that these lantern shows were popular in the Manawatu in the 1890s and early 1900s before being supplanted by travelling cinemas. In fact, many of New Zealand’s cinema pioneers began their careers with the magic lantern. 

The phrase ‘from life models’ on the slide boasts that these are hand coloured photographs which professional models posed for. Each slide was coloured by hand in Holmfirth, adding to their beauty and their price.  

Identification

Object type

Image

Date

1890s