The stereopticon or "Magic Lantern" was a projector that used two lenses to blend picture slides together. Some early entrepreneures charged 10 cents to view slide shows. The use of the stereopticon and arranging slides to tell a story was the technology used before moving picture shows.1
Electricity was not always readily available. Some stereopticons used compressed hydrogen and oxygen gas to make a bright light to project the slide images onto a screen or wall. This type stereopticon was initially blamed for the Rhoads Opera House fire in Boyertown, Pa. on January 13, 1908. 170 people died in this fire. Many fire and safety codes were written from findings from the investigation of this fire.2
1"stereopticon." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008
Encyclopedia.com. 5 June.2009 http://www.encyclopedia.com/
2"The Rhoads Operahouse Fire; The Legacy of a Tragedy/cd 2008Maranatha Broadcasting Co. Inc Allentown, PA USA webmaster@wfmz.com
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