A Lantern Odyssey

The itinerant lanternist was a feature of the American scene prior to 1920 and before. These nomadic entertainers brought humor, news, and song to the small towns and villages along the Road to the Land of Light and Shadow. The Chautauqua or traveling players could not afford to mount but one program, their costs were too great, but the Medicine Show or the traveling lanternist could, and did, play but one program in a town as they passed through.



This book tells the story of Top and Letta who are disappointed in their wish to appear at the St. Louis Fair of 1904. It chronicles their trek about the country as they try to escape the bane of the "Flickers" whose parenthood has been claimed by so many.



All their travels are fictional, but there are incidents that actually happened so long ago. The lanternists named are mostly real people who kept the Magic Lantern alive at the turn of the century (1900).