 |
| The loft workrooms here at the Coot Hill Preservation Society HQ devote space to this loaded table with mystery objects stashed beneath it. |
 |
| Recently, the Curators delivered a brown case from the tangle. |
 |
| The light in the exam room allows us to note that the top goes up and the front swings down. |
 |
| When everybody's glass was refreshed, and all the elders were in comfortable seats, the machine was plugged in and the setup band, so to speak, set up the silver screen. The screen always fought back, to the amusement of the audience. |
 |
| Kids always love this gadget. They can see for themselves how it works, and they can work it. You put on the takeup reel, put on the projection reel at the top, thread the film, swing the lens back in place, turn on the lamp, adjust the angle of the beam, and raid the bookshelves for fat volumes on which to set the projector on the dining-room table, so that the image is thrown neatly upon the silver screen. Then you run the film and inhale the ambrosial fragrance of celluloid, fine motor oil, and hot dust. It's wonderful. |
 |
| A kid can also thrill to the power of making relatives run fast backwards, on-screen just as in real life. The lovely clickety-clacking of the machine provides continuo to the other musical elements in the room during a showing of home movies with this projector: laughter; shouts of insult and outrage; inquiries as to who, what, when, and where; the clink of ice on glass; and the occasional sigh of nostalgia. |
4 comments:
I have an older projector given to my father by Uncle John. It is in a home make black wooden case . I have no idea why I kept it and it is very heavy. I think it is 8mm.
Paul, does it look older than the one in the post?
I have the impression that JPZ made frequent upgrades to his photographic equipment. So yours could be an earlier projector that he gave to his brother when he made an upgrade.
Or: the projector in this post was not a JPZ item at all, but one purchased by my Dad, EJZ. I have no idea.
You mentioned a black, home-made case. That is so Zdro. I have his/their film-splicer; it's on a home-made base made out of a piece of signboard. It must be that cabinetmaker ancestry coming through.
Paul, do you have any old home movies lying around? I'm tapped out here. Maybe you have the one with Uncle Stanley jumping off the upstairs back porch into a snowbank, that John mentioned.
8mm, keep it, keep it.
Wow ! It was great to see the old projector again. (Although it still looks pretty new)
I felt this sudden urge to run to the kitchen and get some more ice cream while Dad changes the reels.
Although if I do, I just KNOW what will happen, that darn Sharon will take my spot by the fireplace......
Post a Comment