This Walt Disney Film Strip Lantern by Johnsons of Hendon sold for £45 at Laganside Auctions, Belfast on 26th March 2024. It included a number of accessories and films. The lantern looked very interesting so we decided to find out some more about the set and Johnsons of Hendon.
The use of lanterns to project images has a storied history, particularly highlighted during the Victorian era with the popularization of Magic Lanterns, the precursors to today’s slide projectors. The first magic lantern is attributed to Athanasius Kirchner, a Jesuit priest, who invented it in 1671. This early device featured a box with an oil lamp that shone light through painted glass slides via a lens. Advancing this technology into the realm of entertainment, Walt Disney in the mid-1930s introduced a compact projection lantern. This device, developed in collaboration with Ensign Ltd., incorporated a flashlight, a film holder for strip films, and a basic lens, and was marketed using the beloved character Mickey Mouse.
The Walt Disney Film Strip Lantern by Johnsons of Hendon appeared the 1940s. Johnsons of Hendon (operating under that name between 1943 and 1948, before adding “Ltd.” at the end). The lantern is equipped with an improved film holder allowing you to run a flexible film driven by small wooden spools. It has small tabs under the lens to hold it.
There were there types of projector produced by Johnsons
There were at least 50 film spools created showing various images from Disney.
Each film strip contains 24 coloured images plus the title. They are wrapped around a wooden shaft that fits directly into the projector. The films can be stored in a small cardboard box with different colours depending on the series. In addition, each box contains a slip of paper with comments for each image printed on it. [1]
Reference
1 The Johnson Disney filmstrip projectors and strips – excellent feature with images
Histoire des Projections Lumineuses
