Fairground penny movies. Three boys looking at penny movies in the 1930s at South Louisiana State Fair, Donaldsonville, Louisiana, USA. They are viewing the films on a old technology called the mutoscope (patented in 1894). It worked on the same principle as a flip book, and was often used for coin-in-the-slot shows at fairgrounds, amusement arcades, pleasure piers and other entertainment locations. The handle was rotated to flip through the prints, presenting the viewer with an animated scene. These clips are from a Charlie Chaplin film (right), and at centre the feature 'Wiggling Wonders' (1928). Photographed in October 1938 by US photographer Russell Lee (1903-1986).