Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/02/15/spirograph-in-a-tin-just-like.html
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Do they still use pins to hold down the non-moving gears?
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Comes with putty for holding pieces in place.
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I got a Spirograph for Christmas one year. It was a lot of fun-for a couple days. Maybe if I could have figured out something to do with the pretty designs…
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I liked Spirograph as a kid. Wonder what the story behind its creation was?
Of course the answer is here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirograph
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I was just headed to “LMGTFY”
Its great but almost disappointing that answers to such questions are so easy to find now.
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I like to imagine what it must be like for my daughter, where curiosity is instantly answered and there is no earning an answer to anything. Not understanding the joy I had as a kid reading the encyclopedia cover-to-cover, book-by-book. She may never see one.
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Maybe its an artifact of age but I also like simple mysteries with no answer at all. Maybe the thing was insignificant at the time, or the people involved all passed before anyone thought to ask them about it and write down the answer somewhere.
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Enjoy
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I didn’t quite do that, but often if I looked something up, I’d see other interesting subject headings and either digress or backtrack to them.
I did that a lot when looking up words in the dictionary as well, and paid attention to etymology. I suspect that’s why I aced college Spanish. My teacher was outstanding but by no means easy; 30 people started Spanish 101, seven finished Spanish 104. The weirdest thing was that when I was in 104, I started having dreams in Spanish. That doesn’t happen 30+ years later, but I can tune into soccer games on the Spanish channels and mostly follow the action, as long as I don’t try to translate it.
And yes, I had a Spirograph when I was a kid, too (actually it was a family toy, shared with my sister).
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My first spirograph was a hand-me-down and came without pins. I didn’t find out about using pins till I was fully an adult. Lots of fun filled but frustrating days with that kit as a child.
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I think Spirotot is entirely superior to Spirograph. It’s much easier to use, so it was marketed to tots, which apparently doomed it to obscurity. But it makes more interesting pictures, has fewer parts to lose, is more portable and simple to use in a car, and does not require pins to hold it in place.
I received two Spirographs ~1967. One from UK, one in Canada. Neither came in a tin.
Ours (which may have been a used set) back in the mid-70s came in a box with similar dimensions to a lot of the boardgames at the time.
I don’t think my US spirograph, from a few years later, came in a tin either. I think I would remember, because I like tins, bentos and tiffins.
Well… there you go.
i got the super spirograph for christmas when i was 9. it came in a cardboard box and was incredibly difficult to manipulate. i’ve still got it and my 50 year old self can work with it just fine–
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