Cosmograph

COSMOGRAPH

I'm afraid only the last half dozen pix have survived the transtion to Joomla! and I have not yet had time to track down and replace the pix. Remember to dismiss the 6 survivors by clicking the back arrow at top left of your screen, NOT the X.

Ren Villareal has sent me a string of pictures of an unusual 35mm silent machine, the Cosmograph. It's an unusual design, coming in a box that then serves to house both the feed and take-up reels while the projector sits on top of the box to show the film, making for an interesting film path. The gate seems a bit like a flat GBL516 gate in that it relies on grip from the edges rather than a second leaf of a gate to hold the film. It is also unusual in that it was left unpainted - I always think these machines look a bit naked, as it is just not what one is accustomed to - ie black.

The amount of ingenuity, effort, skill and finance that must have gone into so many different types of projector never ceases to amaze me. This particular one seems to have had a very short life - reel capacity must have been a serious limiting factor as films rapidly grew to multi-reel features.