Author of Peck's Bad Boy

Author, Politician, Publisher, and Statesman

Magic Lantern Slides

In the early 1900's Peck's Bad Boy was extremely popular. Prior to the 1921 movie, there were the books and the ever popular traveling theatre troupes. Much less well known but nonetheless widespread were presentations of Peck's Bad Boy in the form of magic lantern slide shows. These shows were presented at local theaters.

Below is a great example of an advertisement for an upcoming Magic Lantern show.



Tickets for children were 10 cents. Everyone else apparently paid 15 cents.



Nothing is known of Prof Nettz and whether a person with that name even existed is questionable. Note that on the tickets the name is spelled Netts not Nettz (as it is on the poster). His slides were shown on a large canvas. For two hours Peck, General Grant and others were presented with graphophone songs and Negro speeches.

Undoubtedly Nettz bought his set from the ads found in a Sear Roebuck catalogue.

This ad points out the money making possibilities of the Enterprise Stereopticon Outfit. The large 2 x 3 poster that is part of the package is shown below.



This ad explains what the purchaser gets for his money. Note that in addition to the tickets (shown above) and posters that the buyer had the option of purchasing a show with either 52 slides or 72 slides.

The "stereopticon" word does not mean that the slides were stereoviews. The slides were magic lantern slides. Stereopticon refers to the projector which has two lenses, one on top of the other.

From Wikipedia: The term stereopticon has been widely misused to name a stereoscope. A stereopticon will not project or display stereoscopic/three-dimensional images. The two lenses are used to dissolve between images when projected. All stereopticons can be classified as magic lanterns, but not all magic lanterns are stereopticons.

Two different setups could be purchased. Right below is Outfit #24. An upgrade that included some videos came in Outfit #25.



Here are some sample slides from the 72 view set.





Outfit #25 included some "Bad Boy" movies and movie showing equipment. Thus #25 was quite a bit more costly than #24. Appreciate that on the right half of the page even more films are for sale.



Here is a Non Prof. Nettz advertisement for a Magic Lantern Show. This presentation is with the 72 slides. It is likely that this stereopticon set of Peck's Bad Boy slides was shown in numerous venues.

 

Last Revision: September 23, 2013