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Before modern xenon lamps came along, carbon arcs provided the light for movies. Before starting the projector, the projectionist would strike the arc by turning on the electrical power and then striking the carbons together by turning a knob or pushing a lever. The projectionist then had to maintain the arc (with help from two motors in the lamphouse, which advanced the carbons as they were consumed) at the proper size to keep the picture bright on the screen. The carbons burned at about 6000 degrees, making the booth nice and warm, summer and winter! The carbons in one machine would be refreshed while the other machine was running. Here, Don Herndon changes carbons as Clayton Miars threads the projector. Through the lamphouse door, you can see the copper-colored negative carbon. (Late 1960s) |
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Here's Don again, doing his favorite activity: Splicing previews together. We used to receive previews (trailers) in flat boxes, like the one on the bench in front of Don. A box would hold three or four trailers. The reels of the current feature were kept in the cabinets under the bench. The machine at the back of the bench is a rewinder. In the background (over Don's shoulder) is the tube-based sound system. The suspicious-looking bottle sitting next to the flashlight is lens cleaner. None of this equipment is in our booth today. If this picture were wider, the projectors would be about two feet behind Don's back...giving you an idea of how small this booth really is. Trivia: Movie trailers are getting shorter. In the 1950s, trailers could be up to 10 minutes long, or more! Today, the maximum length of most trailers is 2 minutes and 30 seconds, and some are much shorter than that. |
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The entire booth was damaged by a fire in 1953, so the projectors were replaced. That's when the projector shown here (and another identical to it) was installed. The theatre was originally equipped with different machines (which we don't have pictures of) but they were similar to the machine pictured here. These projectors were used from 1953 until they were replaced by our current equipment in 1980. There are many projectors just like this one still running film today, although they probably have more modern lamphouses. The projector was made by Motiograph and the lamphouse is an Ashcraft. Soundwise, we started out with an RCA PHOTOPHONE system, which was the height of technology in 1930. This picture was taken just before these machines were removed from the booth, in January 1980. |
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Here's a better view of the "controls" on the old Ashcraft lamphouse. The two red knobs at the top were for adjusting the position of the lamp's reflector. The two large red knobs under the amp meter were for adjusting the carbons forward and backward. It was necessary to maintain the right distance between the carbons to keep the arc burning bright and steady. The projectionist had to keep an eye on things at all times, because without occasional adjustments, the arc might wander, causing the picture to get dim and flickery. The small black and red knobs adjusted the speed of the carbon feed motor, and the large lever barely visible at the bottom of the picture was used to turn the power to the lamphouse on and off. |
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