Lantern Slides of Gardens

Edward Van Altena created many, but not all, the slides in this collection. He is known for his hand-colored lantern slides. Other slides were produced by the J. Horace McFarland Company of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, best known for the quality of the seed catalogs which the firm printed.

This collection consists of glass lantern slides, most of which are hand colored, of gardens, flowers, and garden plans. A very few are captioned with the name of the owner of the garden being pictured. Others were in sections designated “California,” “Winter Park,” French gardens,” “rock gardens,” “bulbs,” etc. In some of the slides, parts of houses or garden structures (fountains, trellis, statues, walls, etc.) are visible. People visiting the gardens appear in some slides; it is possible that these depict members of the Garden Club of America, which organization sponsored garden tours. Most of the slides have the label of Edward Van Altena of New York, while a few were made by the J. Horace McFarland Co. of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Some do not have the name of the maker, but many of these may also be by Van Altena.