'Eileen My Own'

One of a set of hand-painted cinema slides for the song ‘Eileen My Own’, a hit song from 1906, showing 'Eileen' playing with her cat.

Illustrated songs are glass magic lantern slides and were around in the first three decades of the 20th century. They featured photographic, painted or drawn images which were projected onto a screen in sequence to create a narrative. The slides accompanied a singer who invited the audience to join in during the chorus. These community singalongs took place in halls, theatres and cinemas and some were regularly broadcast on radio.