Hand painted lanternslide of the Grim Reaper (skeleton holding a sickle) inside a handmade walnut frame. This slide is part of a collection made by Samuel Reader between 1866 and 1913. Reader was a Kansas farmer who was active in the early Topeka community. He built two homes, served in the Civil War, and wrote in a diary nearly every day for 64 years. On June 17, 1866, Reader recorded in his diary that he had "made a skeleton on glass" and drew a sketch very similar to this painting. Reader began painting lanternslides in 1866 and continued throughout much of his life, holding magic lantern shows for the local community in his house and at church.