London - Charing Cross Station Prior to 1903. And The Invention of the One-Way Mirror.

            The Postcard

A postcard bearing no publisher's name that was posted in London using a one penny stamp on Tuesday the 17th. February 1903. It was sent to:

Mrs. S. Grossenbacher,
Langenthal,
Berne,
Switzerland.

The recipient's name and address stretched across the undivided back of the card, hence the only message was on the front.

The Invention of the One-Way Mirror

So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?

Well, on the 17th. February 1903, Emil Bloch Finio filed US patent no. 720877 for his invention of the one-way mirror. It was first known as a 'transparent mirror'.

A one-way mirror appears reflective on one side and transparent at the other. This is achieved when one side of the mirror is brightly lit and the other side is dark. This allows viewing from the darkened side, but not vice versa.

The glass is coated with, or has encased within it, a thin and almost-transparent layer of metal (usually aluminium). 

The result is a mirrored surface that reflects some light and is penetrated by the rest. Light always passes equally in both directions. However, when one side is brightly lit and the other kept dark, the darker side becomes difficult to see from the brightly lit side because it is masked by the much brighter reflection of the lit side.

Applications of the One-Way Mirror

When such mirrors are used for one-way observation, the viewing room is kept dark. These observation rooms have been used in:

-- Execution chambers
-- Experimental psychology research
-- Interrogation rooms
-- Market research
-- Reality television, as in the series Big Brother, which makes extensive use of one-way mirrors throughout its set to allow cameramen in special black hallways to use movable cameras to film contestants without being seen.
-- Security observation decks in public areas
-- Train driver or conductor compartments in newer metro trains, such as Bombardier Transportation's Movia family of metro trains, including the Toronto Rocket.

Smaller versions are sometimes used in:

-- Low-emissivity windows on vehicles and buildings
-- Mobile phone and tablet screen covers, enabling the screen to be used as a mirror when it is off
-- Security cameras, where the camera is hidden in a mirrored enclosure
-- Stage effects (particularly Pepper's ghost)
-- Teleprompters, where they allow a presenter to read from text projected onto glass directly in front of a film or television camera
-- Arcade video games, such as Taito's Space Invaders.
   

Taken on: May 1, 2023

Tags:

postcard

old

nostalgia

nostalgic

London

Charing

Cross

Station

1903

17/02/1903

35CPT38

Mrs.

Grossenbacher

Langenthal

Berne

Switzerland

Invention

One-Way

Mirror

Emil

Bloch

Finio

patent

transparent

aluminium « less

Sets appears in: • London • UK

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