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Though they were one of Britain’s major manufacturers of Magic Lantern slides in the late Nineteenth Century, it’s very difficult to find information on Theobald & Co. In fact, most internet searches on the subject lead you right here to this site since I’ve spent a great deal of time writing about them. That happens here quite a lot. I’ll look for something and end up with an article that I wrote on the subject. That’s not helpful. I already know what I know. Errrr…something like that.
I’m not sure what else there could be to learn about the Magic Lantern manufacturer which started out as the J. Theobald & Co. I managed to find their 1890 catalog which is filled with over a dozen series of slides about then-current events, biblical themes and fairy tales.
The company first came to my attention because of the (incomplete) set of Theobald & Co. Magic Lantern Slides which were added to the George Speaight Punch & Judy Archive at the V&A. Of course, you’ve seen those over the last few weeks and regular readers know of my quest to collect the complete set of twelve, hand-colored slides depicting the traditional antics of Mr. Punch. I first added the slide of Mr. Punch’s introduction to Joey the Clown to my collection.
And, then…then…there were these.
Now, these slides, dating the about 1900, are not the larger, single Magic Lantern slides, instead, these scenes are presented on longer, narrow glass strips which were used for smaller Magic Lanterns. These smaller, hand-colored slides, as opposed to the larger ones which were inserted one at a time, were moved in front of the lens on a metal clip. You can see where the black paint (designed to block the light so that it only shone through the roundel with the scene) has scraped off from being slid back and forth in the holder.
This is almost the complete set. Almost.
We see here…
1. Only a fragment of the first scene remains. Sadly, the glass strip snapped long ago. Now that I think about it, I’ve NEVER seen the first slide. The larger set at the V&A doesn’t have one either. I suspect, however, that it was a title slide—showing the Punch and Judy Man and the bottler in front of the fit-up.
2. Mr. Punch and Judy dance a little jig.
3. Mr. Punch meets Dog Toby.
4. Dog Toby bites Mr. Punch’s “beautiful” nose.
5. Mr. Punch and his servant, Jim Crow, dance.
6. After a fall from a horse, Punch goes to the doctor and tells the medic that he’s dead.
7. Missing. However, this should be Mr. Punch with Judy and the Baby
8. Missing. This should be Mr. Punch getting back on the horse.
9. Missing. This would be Punch meeting Joey the Clown.
10. Mr. Punch and the Beadle
11. Mr. Punch in Jail with Jack Ketch the Hangman (“Please don’t hang me.”)
12. After defeating everyone, Mr. Punch bids us “Good night.”
