Take a Mental Break to Sunny Palm Beach

With the introduction of glass lantern slides in 1849 photography was able to be used in a public setting for educational and entertainment purposes in the same way that we use PowerPoint to illustrate lectures today. The lantern slide is glass transparency designed to fit in a projector, often called a ‘magic lantern’ that would project the image on a screen or wall. Color was often applied to the glass slides by hand.  

The Garden Club of America (GCA) amassed a large collection of glass lantern slides, during the 1920s and 1930s, which are now part of the Garden Club of America Collection at the Archives of American Gardens. GCA members used this expansive collection to create presentations and to give lectures about garden history and design. The Archives of American Gardens’ slide lecture series includes scripts highlighting Northern and Southern gardens by Alice G. B. Lockwood, author of Gardens of Colony and State (1931), as well as lecture scripts relating to gardens in California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington state.

One such lecture from the 1930s was created for the gardens of Palm Beach, Florida. Since we no longer can project the glass lantern slides on a ‘magic lantern’ (nor would we want to due to their fragile condition), we have given the presentation new life by recreating it in a PowerPoint format.  In doing so, we have been able to bring the images back together for their originally intended use – garden education and appreciation.

As winter progresses, we all think about taking a trip to warmer climes for a break from the cold weather.  Even if we can’t join those headed to Florida for a winter escape, we can at least take a brief mental vacation to the warm and sunny Florida showcased in the following images of Palm Beach gardens.

Il Palmetto, Palm Beach, Florida, lantern slide, circa 1930s. Unknown photographer (FL027001)

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Garden Club of America

Casa Alejandro, Palm Beach, Florida, lantern slide, circa 1930s. (FL003002)
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Garden Club of America

Casa Ananda, Palm Beach, Florida, lantern slide, circa 1930s. Unknown photographer (FL004005)

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Garden Club of America

Qui-Si-Sana, Palm Beach, Florida, lantern slide, circa 1930s. Unknown photographer (FL005002)
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Garden Club of America

For more information about the history and manufacture of lantern slides, see the Library of Congress’ website: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/landscape/lanternhistory.html

Audrey Abrams, 2013 GCA Garden History and Design Intern

Archives of American Gardens