I’m currently writing a chapter about the RSPCA’s use of natural history writing, photography and films, through a close reading of the society’s journal The Animal World. Beginning in the 1920s, the RSPCA operated two mobile cinemas – one attached to a car, which focussed mostly on reaching rural locations, and another which formed part of a larger van which toured cities.
Both itinerant cinemas were operated by traveling lecturers, who delivered talks to their audiences on the subject of animal protection, how to care for domestic and farm animals, as well as some early environmental themes like discouraging the collection of birds’ eggs. Some of the RSPCA’s films were produced by British Instructional Films, who also loaned Secrets of Nature films via the society’s film lending library. Below are some pictures of both cinema vans, taken from The Animal World.
The Animal World, October 1929, p. 116.
The Animal World, May 1933, p. 66.
Secrets of Nature 