In the 1920’s and 1930’s, no golfer captured the imagination of sports fans like Bobby Jones. His smooth rhythmic swing was a thing of beauty that many people hoped to emulate. In those days, watching golf on television was not yet possible, and most were not able to attend tournaments; but anyone could drop a coin in a mutoscope and see one of the greatest golf swings God ever created.

The mutoscope was an early form of motion picture device that worked on the same principle as the “flicker book.” The individual image frames were conventional black-and-white, silver-based photographic prints on tough, flexible opaque cards. Rather than being bound into a booklet, the cards were attached to a circular reel, rather like a huge Rolodex.

Mutoscopes were coin-operated. The patron viewed the cards through a pair of lenses enclosed by a hood, similar to the viewing hood of a stereoscope. The cards were lit electrically, but the reel was driven by means of a geared-down hand crank. The patron could control the presentation speed only to a limited degree.

Mutoscopes were originally manufactured from 1895 to 1909 by the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, then revived and manufactured from 1926 until 1949 by the International Mutoscope Reel Company. Mutoscopes were popular in penny arcades and amusement parks through the 1960s. The typical arcade installation included multiple machines offering a mixture of fare. This antique wooden mutoscope is in perfect condition and would be a distinctive addition to any home or office.

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