Pathé Baby children's projector. France, ca.1920's

Pathé Baby children's projector. France, ca.1920's
Painted metal.
Numbered.
Needs refinishing.
Measurements: 33 x 20 x 10 cm.

The Pathé brothers were responsible for popularizing cinema with inventions such as this home projector. The Pathé Baby, from 1922, is a 9.5 mm film projector, the first of exclusively domestic use; a simple, robust, easy to handle and affordable device, which became very popular in the 1920s and 1930s. The operation of the device can be summarized in three simple steps: placing the film, switching on the bulb, focusing the projection and moving the crank. The Pathé Baby allows the projection of printed films, contained in metal reels of small or large format, i.e. about 10 and 20 meters in length. Subsequently, a small electric motor was added to eliminate the annoying task of turning the crank by hand; by completing it with the "Super Baby" device, it is possible to carry out projections of about 20 consecutive minutes, using films of about 100 meters in length.