Magic Lantern Slides

Local cinema adverts from the late 30s

By Graham Stevens

These unique magic lantern slide adverts for Canvey butcher Fred Atwell were acquired by my mother-in-law Brenda Jessen when she bought a box of 'odds and ends' from Mr Parish's second-hand shop over 30 years ago. Mr Parish's shop was on the corner of Arcadia Rd and the High St, opposite the Clock House. These premises(still standing today but now a house) were originally Fred Atwell's butcher's shop. The slides are clearly marked Feb/37 and July/38 and also with the name of the supplier P A Cramer & Co. It seems quite likely that they were never used.

Were they destined for Mr Pettit's Pictures just around Small Gains Corner or the newly opened Rio Cinema at the Haystack? Can anybody project any light onto where or how they might have been used?