Imaging a continent: George Washington Wilson & Co.’s lantern slides of Australia

Abstract

Travelogue lantern slide sets were a staple product of the major lantern slide production companies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Typically, the only information available today about the images is the slides and perhaps the original narrative produced to accompany them. Much more information has been uncovered about The George Washington Wilson & Co.’s slides of Australia, identifying the photographer (Fred Hardie), the dates the images were taken and the route the photographer followed while travelling through Australia. This article discusses the background that resulted in photographer Fred Hardie travelling to Australia and examines how the various market forces of commerce, technology, tourism, nationalism, fashion, and ethnology converged to produce these ‘travelogue’1 lantern slides.