Mutoscopes

When I was a very young lad I lived in Albany, New York.   It was a very long time ago.   I rode the trolley cars and the milkman.   Yeah, definitely a really long time ago.   There was a park in Albany called Washington Park.

 There was a lake with a large building called "The Boathouse".   You could rent a rowboat and have a relaxing trip on the lake.   No motor boats, just rowboats.

My dad and my brother in one of the rowboats.   My mom took the picture and I would have been sitting next to my mom

 

 The Boathouse was just cavernous inside, much like Grand Central Station.   There was a penny arcade inside the Boathouse.   They had a number of old Mutoscopes.  (I finally got around to the Muroscopes.  LOL!)

 

Remember these?   There was basically a whole bunch of pictures being flipped past a viewer.

 

My brother would provide me with a few pennies so that I could look at the "moving pictures".

So what brings all of these memories up?    I was at Disney World last week and they have a train station and a train that goes completely around the periphery of the Magic Kingdom.   It is a lot of fun to ride.

The interior of the Disney train station is large and spacious.

 

Much to my surprise there were quite a few Mutoscopes just like the ones in the Boathouse in Albany.   Can you see them?

I couldn't resist looking through the viewer and turning the crank.   They were just as I had remembered except they don't cost a penny.   They are free.

The pink mutoscope and the red one are pictures that I took at Disney World last week.

 

There is so much more to see at Disney besides the thrill roller coaster rides.   The Mutoscopes were a delight for me because it was a "blast from the past".    I wonder if the Mutoscopes are still there in the Boarhouse in Washington Park in Albany, New York.   If not, you can always see them at the train station in Disney World and it won't even cost a penny to see them.   Have a great day wherever you may be.