The first moving picture viewer was invented by Lumière in 1897 and this model from Kinora Limited was like the home version of the moving pictures that the world had only recently fallen in love with. A series of silver gelatin prints arranged in a circle create the frames, while the viewer magnifies the images that are turned with a hand crank, a more advanced version of a flip-book. The whole thing is mounted on oakand we can imagine this being a fine-looking entertainment machine for the era. This viewer is from around 1910 and features a woman dancing. We love hearing the flip of the pages as they go around, a wonder of the age for many who would have used this device. These early viewers show us a slice of life from the early 20th century that is just wonderful to see. Have a look for yourself in this clip! And, check out the first ever color screen test here.

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