The Peep Show Porter - Illustration from the Childrens' Book "The Peep Show"
This illustration from page 52 of "The Peep Show" shows that the meaning of the term is not the usual box that contains images and objects that are viewed though a lens but instead it refers to the magic lantern, a projector for glass slides. It shows a porter for an itinerant lanternist with the instrument and box of slides on his back. There were also itinerant showmen with peep show boxes who traveled in the same way.
The Peep Show Porter - Illustration from the Childrens' Book "The Peep Show"
This illustration from page 52 of "The Peep Show" shows that the meaning of the term is not the usual box that contains images and objects that are viewed though a lens but instead it refers to the magic lantern, a projector for glass slides. It shows a porter for an itinerant lanternist with the instrument and box of slides on his back. There were also itinerant showmen with peep show boxes who traveled in the same way.