"Ten Dollars' Worth of Fun": The Obscured History of the Toy Magic Lantern and Early Children's Media Spectatorship (original) (raw)
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2018
The turn of the Nineteenth Century was the golden age of the magic lantern, at least in terms of its popularity across the UK, as in much of Europe and the United States. This article argues that one of the chief reasons for its success in this period was that often it both represented and was presented by individuals similar to those in many of its audiences. Focusing on life model lantern slide series/sets, which were also at their most popular during this period, the article draws on two large datasets in order to consider aspects of screen practice associated with the slides themselves and with their conditions of performance. The article argues that slides and shows were designed to foster recognition and projection in their audiences, allowing them to compare the moral lessons conveyed by many life model sets with their own everyday experiences. The article thus seeks to explain the persuasiveness of many life model slide sets, showing that a form of entertainment which someti...
Entertaining Children: an Exploration of the Business and Politics of Childhood
New Theatre Quarterly, 2012
This article explores the conflict between the constructions of childhood and their political/legal implications in the context of the entertainment business, as related to the demands imposed upon children by parents and theatre managers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Once children could move freely both within and between countries, these conflicts and concerns assumed a global dimension. Through a number of case studies, the authors offer some fresh observations about how legal and social imperatives affected the transmission of values about children employed as entertainers between Britain and Australasia during the period from 1870 to the start of the First World War – from the Education Acts of the 1870s to the legislation of 1910–1913 restricting the export of child entertainers. Gillian Arrighi is a Lecturer in Drama at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She has recently published articles in Theatre Journal (Dec 2008), Australasian Drama Studies ...
Toy Story: Childhood versus Children in Toy Museums
Museum and Society
Toys are considered to be children’s cultural objects, yet when placed in a toy museum context they become a collection for adult viewing. This article uses Kress and van Leeuwens’ concept of ‘semiotic landscape’ wherein the exhibit provides a specific context of communication that becomes a mediating device between adults and children. The question then becomes, how does a display of static toys speak to a child’s culture of play? Through interviews with toy museum curators and personal observations it was found that the exhibition was designed to have adults share and reflect stories about the toys with children. Such activity reflects a representation of toys as collections for adults (child’s perspective) rather than the playthings of children (children’s perspectives). Material culture of children was implicitly represented through playful, sensory, and affective engagement.Key words: toy exhibits, material culture of children, semiotic landscape, play, narratives