Simplex Model E-7

This year my wife and I spent Thanksgiving in Prescott, AZ with her dad and brother.  It was a nice change to relax in one place for the holiday rather than making four different stops to see all of the family as we’ve done every year since we got married.  We took a day trip to Jerome since Jessi had not been there before and spent the afternoon leisurely wandering and taking in the fascinating historic town (and, of course, eating haunted hamburgers!).

This machine was standing on the sidewalk outside of an old movie theater.  The Simplex E-7 was a movie theater projection system which began production around 1932. Shown here is just the projector head but outside of the frame the whole system was on display.  Above and below the head were two giant reel canisters and behind was a Peerless Magnarc high intensity lamp system which was about the size of an oil drum.  Overall the system stood about 5 1/2 to 6 feet high and spanned about 3 feet from front to back. I’m sure the thing weighs a ton.

I’ll be posting some more shots from our trip in the coming days.