Magic Lanterns and Steampunk Cars

Guest post from Charlotte Gallant, Archivist at the King Edward VI Foundation and former archivist at the British Motor Museum

Have you heard of the term ‘magic lantern’?

Sadly nothing to do with Halloween or Harry Potter; a ‘magic lantern’ is an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass).

Magic lanterns have a long history, as the basic requirements were simply a light source and a lens for projection, and they were used for public lectures and entertainment in an age before the cinema or television had been invented. But as camera technology developed, and electricity was harnessed as a power source, the equipment became more sophisticated. An early form of the Power Point presentation, these were used to explain concepts, designs and ideas to businesses across Britain, from the Victorian era to even the early 1950s. This included the many car companies that were beginning to appear across the UK at the beginning of the 1900s and in particular, the Midlands.

These lantern slides reside in the archive of the British Motor Museum, Warwickshire and are some of the oldest in their collection, dating from the beginning of the 20th century. They originated from Wolseley Motors (a Birmingham based motor company operating from 1901-1975) and comprise several sets of images clearly put together for talks on specific topics. One of the more unusual sets consists of sketches and caricatures, copied from drawings made some 50 years earlier, and depicting various steam-powered contraptions. This was puzzling, however, because Wolseley never made steam-powered cars. One theory is that they were prepared for a lecture on potential power sources as in 1893 Herbert Austin (Managing Director of Wolseley at the time before he started his own business at Longbridge – the Austin Motor Company) developed a two-cylinder stationary steam engine to operate sheep shearing equipment.

Many of these were not drawings of actual vehicles; some were speculations as to what the future might hold, others a satirical comment on the society of the time. This brilliant cartoon by Robert Seymour includes steam powered legs (or possibly inspiration for Wallace and Gromit’s Wrong Trousers!), flying machines, and even a carriage in the shape of a teapot – the steam being made with a ‘strong infusion of gunpowder tea’.

The challenges of moving vehicles with steam were considerable and obvious stumbling blocks were the size and weight of machinery required to produce the necessary output, not to mention the dangers of its various elements, namely burning coal, boiling water, the explosive nature of the combustion process and the steam itself! Gradually, though, the technology was refined and made more manageable, to power boats, ships and, of course, the railways. A viable road vehicle remained elusive and some of the drawings speculate on what the future of ‘locomotion’ might look like. Steam power, they suggest, is not one of the most attractive propositions.

Persistent inventors continued to dream of steam vehicles that might take to the roads, and among the slides is an example is by Scottish inventor David Gordon which formed part of his patent for a ‘steam carriage’ in 1824.

These legs were successively forced outwards by one crank against the ground and then immediately lifted by the revolution of another, pushing the vehicle along. The carriage also had three wheels although these were not powered, each with a separate axle; one in front to steer and two at the back. The Driver is sat on his own at the front of the carriage, the passengers behind him with a steam funnel at the back of the carriage.

The idea itself was not new, in fact the first half of the 19th Century saw two or more patents every single year for various designs connected with or improving steam transportation. Where David Gordon’s design differed from others is the use of six joined iron ‘legs’ to move the carriage along the road, to simulate horse-hooves. Gordon believed that the iron legs were absolutely necessary in order to solve the problem of driving a steam powered vehicle up a hill without the wheels slipping. It was not a success. The carriage was just too heavy, slow and inefficient.

One of his rivals, Goldsworthy Gurney the ‘gentleman scientist’ was slightly more successful in actually getting a working vehicle onto the road. In July 1829 a Gurney steam carriage undertook a journey from London to Bath and back, at an average speed for the return journey of 14 miles per hour—including time spend in refuelling and taking on water. The main danger seemed to be from locals along the way, who decided to throw stones at it, injuring the driver, as a result of which an escort was sent out from Bath to guide the vehicle safely into the town without further incident.

This contraption does not look very practical, and the passengers in the barouche would have been in danger of enduring nostrils full of smoke if the wind blew in the wrong direction. One can only speculate that the horse running alongside, perhaps as a backup in case of emergencies, must have felt infinitely superior to the ungainly steam carriage that was meant to replace him. The venture was not commercially viable, not least because of vested interests who did not want to see any competition to their horse coach businesses. This was a problem early motor cars would also face.

The use of glass in photography and projection died out with the invention of plastic negatives, but many still remain despite their fragile state. Because of their original purpose, these negatives offer a different perspective on the history of road transport. They also give some insight into the use of photography as a means of entertainment and education rather than simply to record events.