OPTIGRAPH Movie Projector
The museum now has for display one of the first moving picture projectors ever made.
The first sucesfull movie projector was the Cinematographe, invented by the Lumiere Brothers, and first used in Lyon, France on March, 22, 1895. The first film ever made and shown in public was of employees leaving the Lumiere Factory, (Lyon ) A comercial show opened in the basement at Grand Cafe' in Paris December, 28, 1895.
The second was made by Latham and first shown in New York, at 35 Frankfort Street on 4/21/1895, he called it the Pantoptikon. On May, 20, 1895 it was used in a commercial show in a Store Room at 153 Broadway, NY.
Armat shop tested his Vitascope in Washington D.C. in June 1895. It was used in a commercial show during the Cotton States Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, September 1895.
Paul, London, created a projector around October, 1895. He demonstrated it at the Royal Institution on February 28, 1896.
Between 1896 and 1898 Alvah C. Roebuck (1864-1948 ) invented the Optigraph and sold it thru the Sears Roebuck and Company catalog. Yes he is the Roebuck and cofounder. The Optigraph name soon was left behind and the company he founded is still in business, Mutiograph.
The museum knows of two models of the Optigraph, -
Above is the Optigraph 1, left. Optigraph 1, mounted with slide projectors, right.
Above is the Optigraph 2 and the cover of the operation manual. The museum has for display a Model 2.
All of the above examples were primative and would reveal moving frames or flickering images.
In 1898 Armat used a pin and star wheel intermittent which was adopted by all makes and is still used today.