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I have just added this smart little projection screen from ELMO in my collection. I didn't know from the existence of this screen. If you know more about this screen and/or when this was realesed, please share! 
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It was only meant to be given to stores such as camera shops so Elmo products could be demonstrated on a countertop display within the store -
I totally love that little screen Nick. 😍Wish Elmo would have produced more for home use. Nice find!Comment
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Absolutely Janice - I'm sure it would have been a great seller!Comment
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If I remember correctly (it was a LONG time ago) the camera shops would not give them up because they still needed them. If you were interested in a projector of any kind, it was used on top of the glass display cabinet. Typically they would run a cartoon or digest print to demonstrate the projector.
I wrote to Elmo in New Hyde Park merely asking if they could sell one to me. I only asked how much would it be. Thinking I would not hear from them at all, two weeks passed and I gave up.
Three weeks after that, the UPS truck came one day and there inside the box was on of these screens free no charge. I called to thank them and it turned out the man who was in charge of old stock (or something like that) had been out from work and my letter waited for him on his desk. Once he got it, he answered it right away.
I still have the screen and use it enough to say that it is very sentimental.
If anyone has wood working skills or access to tools, one can be built at very small cost. Two pieces of flat wood and a stud is all you need.
Use the stud to connect two pieces of wood. One is vertical, the stud and 2nd piece of wood is horizontal.
Then add some kind of counterweight on the back side to keep it from tipping. Such as a heavy book right behind the stud.
Paint it flat white and you're all set.Comment
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Chip,
That's a great Elmo story!Comment
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This is the Da-Lite Handy. It's this tiny screen, maybe 18" square, that still succeeds in being a rollup: those props on either side lock into position and keep the screen stretched upwards. It has that neat, well built 1950s-1960s quality to it, like a really old car. These are common on E-bay. There were three on there when I bought this one: the best of the bunch.
I got this one for my son: for a couple of years he and his silent Yelco dual-8 machine took half a table at CineSea. He became the go-to guy when some R8 surfaced and somebody wanted to see it. He started out screening on card film boxes and I thought it would be nice to help him up his game! (He's on hiatus now: going to college!)
As much as I love a big screen, little screens like these have their place and time. When you concentrate the beam into a small area like this, your brightness rises: just the thing for a basically daylight situation. Steven projected with a 50W lamp on this one and it looked just fine.
Chip, Elmo USA is a pretty migratory bird: I grew up very close to New Hyde Park and would have been 10 minutes away during the Golden Era. As I recall, at different times they were also in Long Island City and Plainview, New York which is where they were when when my wife snapped my avatar picture maybe 5 years ago. They've moved again since then too!
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Last edited by Steve Klare; January 15, 2021, 03:35 PM.Comment
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Great story from Chip. The epitome of customer service, I can't imagine any company doing that today.Comment
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What's the size of the projection area, Nick ?Comment
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Great ELMO memory!
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What's interesting is it looks like it's 16:9. I'd expect a screen for film to be 4:3 or one for slides to be square.Comment
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Steve, that is probably just the angle of the camera and the wide angle setting of the lens. It's probably a 4:3 screen.Comment
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The projection area is 24,7 cm x 18 cm.Comment
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Sure enough!
4:3
-back from the day when movie equipment was found in the Photography Department and not Consumer Electronics!Comment
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