Tweet Coming Attraction Glass Slides

I have seen these coming attraction glass slides occasionally at emovieposter and the like, but was not really sure what they were. After reading about them in the most recent Silent Film Quarterly, they looked interesting so I decided to get one. I bought one off of Ebay for the silent 1921 film Just Around the Corner. I looked the film up on Imdb and apparently the film does exist at the Library of Congress (hint, hint Ed -- :0) After receiving the slide in the mail I am very pleased with the condition and have enjoyed seeing it. I still prefer lobby cards, but I think I would also enjoy collecting these as well.

I searched some old threads on these types slides but still have a few questions.

One of the first things I did was to grab a flashlight and shine it through the back of the glass onto a white wall. Well, that did not work. I do have a 16mm projector but that did not work so well either. Is there a modern device that could be used to project a good bright image onto a screen?

I know not to try to clean it, so fortunately this one came in great shape.

I have seen some with writing on them to show when the film would be shown, which I understand was the original purpose. Does that make them more valuable, or less?

I was also wondering about pricing. I do know that a glass slide for a film like Greed or one for a Laurel and Hardy film for example will fetch a very hefty price. But there are a lot of "run of the mill" slides on Ebay. Most in the $22 - $29 range. I do know that sometimes people put Buy It Now prices on items that are too high and they sit for a very long time on Ebay. The one I bought was for $24 with free shipping. I felt okay with the price because I saw on emovieposter auction archives that one for the same film sold for much higher. But in general, is there a typical range that regular run of the mill silent films, for a slide in good to very good condition, would sell for? As I said, there are a number of them on Ebay in the Buy It Now category, but they could have been sitting there for a year at those prices for all I know.

Thanks,
Matthew

$20-$25 is about the average price you will find glass slides for on eBay or anywhere. Exhibition information on the white strip doesn't really add to value; title, star, or artwork could increase value. A flashlight does not have the right throw to project this on the wall. Some people digitally scan the image and put it in a digital frame. An average lamp gives enough light to see the image by hand. I store mine in a vintage glass slide box.

Hi MissDupont,

Thank you for the information on the pricing.

I completely forgot to ask about storage. I will keep my eyes open on Ebay for a vintage slide storage box.

Matthew

Matthew,

I have a nice little collection of glass slides, about 50 or 60, and wrote a little book about them THE FRAGILE ART OF OLD HOLLYWOOD - shameless plug here. To maximize the use of these slides, I recommend the following:

1. Buy or borrow a scanner that has a lightbox for negatives and for positive transparencies. A scanned glass slide can print out to make a very nice 8x10 suitable for framing.

2. Learn a bit about Photoshop and you can digitally restore cracked slides, enhance faded colors, and repair lettering. You can buy up damaged slides inexpensively and through digital means turn them into mint condition images.

Here are some before/after examples of my work:







and, ahem, the book:

Bob,

That is an incredible restoration job you did on the Alexander Hamilton slide. I have never done anything with Photoshop. I would imagine it would take a good bit of knowledge to do that kind of restoration.

I see the book is available on Kindle. I am going to order a copy.

I also ordered another slide today on Ebay. I better be careful. This could become an expensive hobby.

Matthew

Do check out Rob Byrne's blg, http://www.starts-thursday.com/. He has not updated, but, if you have questions, he will respond to email. He is working on a book

Matthew,

I have a nice little collection of glass slides, about 50 or 60, and wrote a little book about them THE FRAGILE ART OF OLD HOLLYWOOD - shameless plug here. To maximize the use of these slides, I recommend the following:

1. Buy or borrow a scanner that has a lightbox for negatives and for positive transparencies. A scanned glass slide can print out to make a very nice 8x10 suitable for framing.

2. Learn a bit about Photoshop and you can digitally restore cracked slides, enhance faded colors, and repair lettering. You can buy up damaged slides inexpensively and through digital means turn them into mint condition images.

Here are some before/after examples of my work:







and, ahem, the book:

Bob, got my copy of your book in the mail this past week. Very enjoyable. Thanks, Matthew

Nice work, Bob!

Nice work, Bob!

Thank you, Jim.

The proper way to show these old large format slides is with a large format slide projector. Over the years I've seen them at antique shops and at school auctions. They had a slide bar to show one slide at a time.

I have digital versions of these great old slides that I run before my movies in my home theatre. That's the easiest way
to display them--scanned and transferred as .jpg and assembled using a computer program such as Windows Movie Maker.

Digital versions of these glass slides also print out nicely as 8x10 photos and look great framed.

There's an intact slide on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/302130436243