http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wium/local-wium-909734.mp3
Macomb, IL – There are many ways to learn about local history. One of the more unusual ways is through old glass advertising slides.
Macomb-based artist Sam Parker owns around 300 of the slides from the Lark Theater, which was torn down years ago. The bright, colorful ads on the slides were shown before movies. Parker believes most of his slides are from the early 1950s.
Parker said the slides feature ads for businesses from around the region. He said they give viewers an idea of what businesses once existed in even the smallest towns.
"A lot of businesses from towns such as Adair and Littleton - towns that are almost dead now - are advertising in this theater. There were a great many businesses that now are gone. Restaurants, for example, and so on," Parker said.
Parker said some of the slides give no indication where the business was located. He plans to use old phone books to hopefully learn more about those businesses.
"I'm glad I got them (the slides)," Parker said. "It's local history and I think it's very interesting."
Parker said he found the slides in an antique store on Macomb's courthouse square during the community's first Heritage Days celebration in the early 1980s. He also bought a special projector for showing the slides. However, the projector's 400-watt (yes, 400-watt) bulb blew out.
He now hopes to find help digitizing the images so they can be shown using modern technology.
The slides are a bit smaller than an index card. They were made by the Kansas City Slide Company. Parker said Walt Disney once worked for the company, though it's not known if he made any of the slides in Parker's collection.