An Old Form of Entertainment Revived
A peep-show makes an excellent and quite novel form of home entertainment, and a boy would be well repaid for any trouble to which the construction of one might put him.
The first consideration is the dimensions of the show. One can be large enough to occupy the whole of a table, or so small that it can be made from a soap or cigar box. The best course, therefore, will be to leave the question of size to the reader.
[Fig. 1] is an illustration of the peep-show when finished.
Fig. 1.—The finished show.
The first requisite is a wooden box of the shape shown in [Fig. 2]. As previously mentioned, for a small show a cigar box does admirably. If you visit a friend who has just commenced smoking, and ask him for a box, he will most likely bless you for the opportunity you have given him of throwing away his horribly strong cigars. Should no such friend be numbered amongst your acquaintances, however, a tobacconist will be pleased to let you have one for a cent or so.
Having obtained the box, commence operations upon it. First of all one end must be entirely removed, not a very difficult task to accomplish. The next thing to do is to make the peep-holes. There is no fixed size for these. They may be large enough for both eyes to be applied, or to permit only one to gaze through. But provided they are of sufficient dimensions to allow the “audience” to obtain a comprehensive view of the interior that is all that is required.
The number of peep-holes must, of course, be regulated by the size of the show.
If the reader possesses a fretsaw the making of the holes will present no difficulty. The best method to be adopted by those who have not one of these useful instruments, is to make small holes in the necessary places with a red-hot poker. They can then be easily whittled to the desired size with a penknife, the edges being finished off with a piece of emery paper. Should the reader wish to make his show “extra smart,” he can putty a piece of glass inside the box over the holes. But this is not essential.
Fig. 2.—Showing back view of stage front and lighting.
Fig. 3.—Candle stand and roof protector.
Next obtain a piece of cardboard, and from it cut out a stage front to fit the interior of the box, as shown in [Fig. 2]. This front must be painted in bright colors and glued inside the box about 31⁄2 inches from the end opposite to that at which the peep-holes have been made.
The dotted lines in the illustration of the finished show ([Fig. 1]) indicate the position of this stage front. A reference to the same diagram will also show a small door at the side of the show (D, [Fig. 1]). This must next claim our attention.
Simply cut a small aperture about 3 inches wide by 4 inches deep, and hinge the oblong of wood thus obtained back into its position by means of a piece of linen and glue. The object of this door is to enable the showman to attend to the lighting of his show, done by means of a candle, or, if necessary, two or three candles. The lights are placed behind the stage front in such a position that they are invisible to those gazing through the peep-holes. In order that the candles shall not scorch the roof, they should be placed upon pieces of tin, bent to the shape shown in [Fig. 3].
The first portion of the show is now complete, and we will turn our attention to the second, and more important section.
Another raid must be made upon the tobacconist’s or grocer’s and a second box procured similar to the first. It is necessary that this box should be of the same width, and at least twice as high as the first is deep.
This box is represented by B, [Fig. 1]. Stand it on end and place the other against it in the manner shown by the diagram. Now take a pencil and mark a line across the second box at its junction with the first. With a fretsaw or penknife make a cut along this line, and then completely remove the square of wood below this cut. A glance at [Fig. 4] will make this clear.
Fig. 4.—Scene-raising apparatus.
The back of the box must be taken off and hinged on again in the form of a door. This is to enable the youthful showman easily to execute repairs if anything “goes wrong with the works.”
It is now time to turn attention to the most important portion of the show—the scenes.
If the reader possesses any artistic ability, he cannot do better than paint them himself. A few hints upon this subject will perhaps be useful.
He must pay a visit to a stationer’s, and purchase a supply of white drawing-card, such as is used by artists. A fair-sized sheet costs only two cents. Having procured this he must lightly sketch, in pencil, the first scene upon it. If he be at all doubtful as to his artistic abilities, however, the following is an excellent plan to adopt.
Armed with a pencil and piece of tracing-paper cut to the size of the scenes, he should carefully examine the various illustrations appearing in magazines. A short search should reveal a mountain, a mass of foliage, a waste of sea, or some other subject suitable for the background of the first scene. He must then get to work with the pencil and trace this upon the tracing-paper. Another search will bring to light something adaptable for the middle-distance. Lastly, a group of objects for the foreground must be selected, and the whole transferred first to the tracing-paper and thence to the drawing-card. Thus by taking a background from one illustration and a foreground from another, almost any scene may be built up.
After being sketched-in in pencil the scenes must be colored. This should be done with a view to general effect rather than perfect detail. First the predominant colors should be laid on in a bold wash, then the objects in the background painted in. The coloring must be as vivid as possible, in fact, almost gaudy.
Instead of each scene representing a single incident, it is preferable to weave the whole series into some sort of a narrative, such as “A Voyage round the World,” “With Shackleton to the South Pole,” or, if the reader is very imaginative, “Round the United States in an Aeroplane.”
Having procured the scenes—they can number from half-a-dozen to a score—proceed to fix them in the show. [Fig. 5] gives an interior view of scene-raising apparatus.
Fig. 5.—Interior view of scene-raising apparatus.
A hole must first be bored in the center of each scene and pieces of stout thread knotted in them. A series of diminutive wire-rings, corresponding numerically to the number of scenes, must be fixed into the roof of the box in the position indicated by the dots at A, [Fig. 4]. [Fig. 5] shows position of wire-rings at A, B thread, and C loop for scene-raising. The pieces of thread must be carried through the rings at A, bent at right angles at B, and brought to the outside of the box through a number of small holes (B, [Fig. 4]).
It will now be observed that when one of these threads is pulled, the scene to which it is attached is lifted swiftly out of view of the audience and behind the top portion of the box.
In order to prevent the scenes and threads becoming entangled when raised and lowered, thin strips of wood should be glued up either side of the box, thus making a series of grooves in which each scene can work. In [Fig. 4] the first scene has been raised, leaving one of these grooves displayed to view.
Another reference to this diagram (C, [Fig. 4]) will show a number of small nails corresponding to the holes at B. When a scene is pulled up, the wire-ring at the end of the thread can be slipped over this nail, thus preventing its dropping down again.
It now remains only to put the two sections of the peep-show together. This is easily done. Simply push one box firmly against the other in the manner shown in [Fig. 1], and secure them either by means of small brads or strong glue.
The whole contrivance can then be painted and decorated to suit the taste of the young showman, and everything is ready for the first “performance.”
The showman lights his candles, places the show upon the table in a convenient position, and gets his “audience” to look through the peep-holes. Then he starts upon his description of the first scene, making it as entertaining as possible by well padding with jokes. When he has finished with the first scene—Zr-r-rip!—he pulls the thread, the picture is whisked out of the audience’s view before they quite realize what has happened, and the next scene is displayed.
Thus he will go through the whole series of pictures, and then—well, after that, I trust he will be listening to the congratulations of the audience upon his success as a peep-show man.