1977: SPIROGRAPH inventor at work on his NEW CREATION! | Tomorrow’s World | Science | BBC Archive
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- Опубліковано 1 лип 2023
- After studying the intricate designs of a pound note, Denys Fisher came up with the idea for the legendary pattern-drawing toy, Spirograph. It won the Toy of the Year in 1967 and had sold over 30 million by the time Tomorrow’s World caught up with him in rural Scotland, hard at work on his next creation.
Originally broadcast 12 May, 1977.
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When I was a kid I thought Spirograph was so amazing. Actually, I still do.
This man brought so much joy to so many children.
Denys Fisher, thinker, engineer, & inventor of the Spirograph, died 17
September, 2002, aged 84.
Forty years ago, in 1962, Denys Fisher, working in the Yorkshire
family business, King Fisher Engineering, of Leeds, had the idea for
the Spirograph, a fantastic educational toy that was to make his
fortune. It took three years to bring the idea to fruition.
The Spirograph began its life as an idea for a pattern drawing machine
for industry. Fisher worked for years on the idea before he hit upon
the method of ensuring a high degree of mathematical precision.
Fisher's next problem was how to apply his invention to industrial
work, but his family were so intrigued by his creation, which could
produce a multitude of intricate and colourful designs, that he
decided to market it as a toy.
The Denys Fisher Toys Group was formed in 1965, and, in its first year
of operation with only 12 employees, had a turnover of £30,000. In the
late 1960s the Spirograph became a legend in the toy world, and was
voted the best educational toy for four years 1966-69.
In the early days Fisher enlisted the services of Robert Fieldhouse,
whose job was to make marketing and financial sense of the Spirograph
bonanza.
The capital for expansion came early through the sales explosion of
the educational toy. Pre-tax profits of the group climbed from £70,000
in 1966 to £337,000 in the following year.
Much of this came from the licences to produce Spirograph in North
America. Indeed, the key to the Denys Fisher Group's expansion in
those days was the inflow of royalties from overseas.
Fisher headed the company until 1970, when General Mills, the
multi-million dollar American food combine, took over the business.
Michael Rhodes.
I used it for hundreds of hours - 5 miles south of Leeds never knowing it was invented in Leeds...
Spirograph was one of my favorite toys. Mr. Fisher had such a passion for mechanically designed geometry. Just imagine what he would be doing with CAD, 3-D printing, laser lithography, etc.
Thank you Dennis Fisher. I spent hours and hours using Spirograph. Some of the happiest hours of my childhood. Again, Thank you.
Did you know there is a direct correlation in the decline of spirograph and the rise in gang activity? Think about it.
i loved this as a kid, played with it a lot
There's something so serene about this clever, inquisitive man taking time to think, experiment, work out and create his ideas - through being creative and instinctive but also methodical and disciplined - for the aim of bringing enjoyment to children.
I used it for hundreds of hours - 5 miles south of Leeds never knowing it was invented in Leeds...
I still have my spirograph!
ahh the 70's, when folk banged nails into a piece of wood, threaded coloured cotton around the nails to make a spirograph type shape and then hung it on the wall to be admired along with their new light dimmer switch and lava lamp.
Mathmos still make the original lava lamp. I saw a TV programme about it recently. And spirograph is still produced. Funny you should mention those string and nail pictures. I've just found a book on how to do it. I bought it in the 70s but never got around to using it. So the book languished on my shelves till now. It's very much of its time and very dated😂😂.
@@bahoonies True, but the current lava lamp isn't anywhere as cool as the original wax and oil one that burnt if you touched it!
@davewalker7126 It's exactly the same as the original apart from the halogen bulb used now. Mathmos advise not to touch it when it's switched on as it gets hot.
@@bahoonies I doubt it still contains paraffin and Carbon tetra chloride :)
@@davewalker7126 There's a video around here that details what's in it and how you can make your own. I think Technological Connections.
A few years ago I wrote a modest-sized Python script that could generate curves of various types--trochoid (spirograph), Lissajous, Maurer rose, spirolateral, nested polygons--with different parameter settings, colours etc, and let some children play with it on the Linux computers at a local community centre. As kids do, they came up with some ideas I hadn’t thought of. Like what happens if you use a huge pen thickness, for example several hundred units? Yes, you get a fun blobby curve that way.
Would be great to share it ❤
Try this: ht=74ps:=2F=2Fgit=68ub=2Ecom=2Fldo=2Fcurve
Why dont someone write the program to use same hole numbers and gear sizes as original spirograph. We give the numbers and pen color and nib size then it draws at a set speed with maybe key input to increese or slow the drawing speed.
Damn... when you see how much effort, thought & time he put into creating this it hardly seems like a toy anymore.
I bought a spirograph set during covid lockdown. Now Its been passed on to a new generation. I wonder what happened to Fisher's next 'toy'
I think this was the best birthday present I ever got as a child. I was about 9, I think. Years later, as an adult (I don't know what happened to my original one after I left home) I bought another. I still love it.
I love these old video's.
Pure nostalgia! From the spiral graph to the sound the printer makes, this takes me back to being a youngster.
I imagine him mowing patterns in his lawn like crop circles. I absolutely loved my spirograph and I need a new set!
I'm sure many children went into engineering in later years because of this toy. It certainly sparked something creative in me.
A wondrous "toy" for ALL ages. Mine is 35 years old and still in use. May appreciate more now.
The Spirograph is one of those things you take for granted, like plumbing, and electricity, but then you stop and realize, "oh yeah....someone had to invent that!"
I still to this day LOVE Spirograph.
Was the second drawing toy ever mass produced? It looks interesting.
I also want to know. Additionally, the explanation of how it actually works was lacking, and I would like more detail on that.
@@abraxasjinx5207I was going to describe it to you but it's so simple you can look it up. That is what Google is for.😊
Denys was clearly obsessed with money… the small design on a pound note specifically. A labour of love!
Great invention for children to enjoy
I remember I had their "ages 3 to 7" version called "Spirotot.". I also had another stencil-based pattern toy from Hasbro called "Dial-a-Design."
Beautifully done to a beautiful story. Thanks BBC
Thank you for this!
I loved my spirograph.
I visited Shanghai in the mid 90's and saw street hawkers drawing a huge crowd when demoing a knock-off spirograph they were selling by the Bund. Definitely a timeless toy!.
Loved my set as a kid. Gonna go look for it
Thank you Dennis.
Did you know there’s a direct correlation between the decline in spirograph and the rise in gang activity? Think about it.
thank you for the video
Wow. The good old days ❤
Lovely topic and person to select for fascinating short form video!
I had a spirograph and loved it!
He was working on what became spiro 2000. I had one.
My first boss was a designer working for Denys Fisher. He went onto open a design bureau wher I got my first job. They are still there.
Hands up who had a set!😀✋, hands up who lost the pens first then the small wheels etc🤔✋
I got mine for Christmas (1986 or maybe '87). I'd never known of such a thing. I still have all of it. The ink still flows.
Very positive spin on a man who dedicated his life to counterfeiting the one pound note!
I have a Spirograph and love it. This was so interesting, imagine what he would be doing now with all that we have at our disposal! Fabulous mind!
Great invention and inventor!
I had a Spyrograph. Fun for a bit. Good memory. Rest. Loved the dog with the tree branch :)
What a genius man, and hardworking too!
Loved my Spirograph in the 70s lol..
This was one of my top favorite toys! Would buy the next gen Spirograph in a heartbeat!💯⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Loved this. :)
I remember really enjoying my Spirograph as a child. My mother bought it for me presumably because she enjoyed it as a child as well.
It bums me out that modern kids are just handed a smartphone at the age of three and cut loose these days. They miss out on so many cool little toys that generation after generation got to enjoy before.
Remarkably, spirograph is still being sold.
@@bahooniesyeah, but it is really expensive now. I saw one in a store about a year ago and the price was something like $40.
@hotchick69 It costs me a lot more to fill my car's tank and it doesn't give me anywhere near the mileage of a spirograph lol.
@@CuteLesbo69 I think that's less in today's bucks of what it cost then.
you can get a spirograph app for smart phones though, so it all depend son how you present a smart phone to a child. if you just put tik tok on it you might as well drop your kid on their head too, they'll grow up dumb as a rock. but if you give them apps that get them problem solving they could be the next denys fisher
Still brilliant
I LOVE Spirograph ❤ I want to get a tattoo!
Right on Brother 👍🏻
Did you know, Theres a direct correlation between the decline in Spirograph and the rise in gang activity? Think about it!
I always thought that was from a decline in stamp collecting but I stand corrected 👍
Thanks Dr. S!
We will!
No you won't.
A slight correlation kinda. A "direct" correlation, absolutely not.
There is a direct correlation between people making absurd claims, and them not understanding a definition.
Yes, I get that it was supposed to be a joke. But the only joke is the lack of knowledge. It would have been funnier if you actually left the word "direct" out. Because then you would have made a true statement.
Comedy is subjective, and the subject of your joke, is uninformed. Being a moron, only makes you funny for other morons. Don't worry now they'll all come in, and say crap to me like; "You must be the life of the party", "Man, can't take a joke", and so on. You know, the common idiot responses, by the common idiots, who think idiotic statements are funny.
Spirograph was obviously a gateway drug.
Imagine what Denys could create now with todays technology 💎💙🙏
Yes, using Logo, Scratch and laser cutters and 3D printers.
Our technology has made us less creative, people like this are rarer today, art is dying.
@@ericconnor8419 i kinda suspect the opposite is true but that people like this seem rarer *because more people are mildly creative*. it's good, and in time it'll be apparent who the real geniuses of our time are, but right now I think the thing to do is to try to be such a person yourself!
@ericconnor8419 Don't worry about art dying. It's future is very safe. The number of talented artists on UA-cam alone is staggering.
he would create anime girls using AI
Did you know there is a direct correlation between the decline of Spirograph and the rise in gang activity
Geez. I’m 59 and this dude looks old enough to be my dad.
I really wanted the serious voiceover to end with "Finally able to match the pattern on British currency, Dennis finally began his life's true work - a massive counterfeit money operation".
Every time I hear these informative videos I keep expecting a bunch of jokes, I've seen too much Monty Python
"Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration"-Edison
This man is amazing!!
I still have mine from the sixties plus found another one.😊
had one best with multi color pattern much fun
I loved spirograph
Huge toy in America 😃 it’s still very cool 😎
Mr Fisher: Did you know there's a direct correlation between the fall in Spirograph and a rise in Internet Trolling? Think about it.
trippy
He also invented stickle bricks
I had a Spirograph in the early 80s but I don't think I ever saw anything else he made.
Looks just like an old patrick McGooghan
Now there was a guy to be respected. He was considered for James Bond, but rejected the role because he didn’t approve of the character. Instead, he did the _Danger Man_ series, featuring a secret agent who got by with his wits and his charm, and never blew anything up.
How big is that stick the dog carrying 😀
What was this version of the Spirograph called?
Fun nice
Denys Fisher products, my entire 70's chilhod
Everything made in UK
Thank you so much Denys Fisher
That Denys Fisher of Fisher Price Toys? They're still going. Remember Spirograph well, even the tune from the TV ads, 'You just can't leave it alone, super Spirograph'.
No. Fisher Price is an American company.
So it's useful for arts and crafts AND bank note forgery! What a device!
Who doesn't remember this??? 🥰
Wonderful invention back when no-one had thought of doing this before. It was limited, true, but if you fancied drawing a variety of intricate spiral patterns, this was the toy to have. Very popular with most kids I knew at the time. Now it would be software-based, but this was still the era of practical physical toys. :-)
And to turn this into a software-thing, a mere "app" is a mistake. It is the physicality of the toy that makes it. The difference between the printed page and a garbage "ebook" is immense. Practical toys - Meccano, Lego - will never be surpassed.
"Now it would be software-based"? Now the same plastic pieces are sold in the same kits in stores in many countries.
Toys in the physical world have a magic to them that computer games don't. A child would get a real kick out of being able to create complex patterns using a bit of plastic. Something from nothing.
Can someone tell me the title of the song: 2:30?
DENIS IS GREAT !!
Who’d have thought that Spirograph was a ploy to forge bank notes.
I was amazed to see the milling machine that he used to make grooves in the red plastic sheet, they sell milling machines that look exactly like that today! And it was compute controlled?!
Did anyone notice the drawing machine seen at the end of this clip (a drawing CNC machine)? It had a small digital readout and displayed prompt messages! I thought machines like that were only available in the 80's, this was 1977! Does anyone know what the name of that machine is?
Its a Hewlett Packard 9825 desktop calculator and plotter, available from 1976 until mid 1980
Very cool! I need to look into some of his later inventions.
Sacred Geometry at home tonight! Right Brained Left Brained Hardly Brained- Spirograph has your back!
One thing puzzles me: if this was on a pound note, couldn't he ask it to the artist who drew this how to do it, and isn't this man the real inventor of this drawing principle then? (to the extent that it wasn't already discovered earlier on, because it seems like a kind of involute of a circle to me and 17th century scientists and mathematicians like Huygens and Christopher Wren spring to mind actually).
@@DKShoneys-dc2dp indeed, I fully agree.
those symbols are on the money for security purpose, so people cant replicate them and make forgeries of money, and so complex shapes like these allow forgeries to be detected. So they likely wouldnt have been allowed to tell him anything because they would have been telling him how to make perfect forgeries.
@@ge2719 you have a point there. But the technique was not new, that's what I was hinting at.
Look up "Rose Engine Lathe"
@@StonesAndSand indeed.
@03:09 the computer reads 'i am very obedient'....
I always found trying to keep the gears together problematic sometimes.
This one looks easy enough to 3d print.
What is the second "Toy" called. I loved Spirograph and bought several sets for the grandkids so that I could help them draw patterns.
It was called the spectrograph, if you search for kenner spectrograph design maker you should get some pictures of the toy
What was the second toy he was working on?
❤❤❤mannnnn
Wish patents were as easy to file now 😢😅
❤🎉SPIROGRAPH NUFF SAID ❤🎉🙂
I had one of those! It was very attractive in the advertisements, but after using up the included supply of slick glossy papers, I never touched it again. It lacked the magic of Spirograph, and didn't have the infinite play.
Did he ever produce a follow-up to the Spirograph?
The toy shown in the video was sold under the name "Spectrograph".
@@JohnDlugosz Thanks! I'll have to look that up.
Lovely Garrard 401 turntable he had there mmmm
gee now you can make doodles in days that computers can make in a few seconds
I had no idea
I was always a little bit suspicious of the Spirograph - maths masquerading as a toy.
I wonder if the spirograph idea has untapped potential. I would love to be able to introduce complex geometric designs into my garden in some way. Any ideas?
70s Nail and string art. Garden line and wooden pegs eg to create a pattern. 😊
Sand leveled smooth then use a water jug hanging from a rope, making a pendulum to drip the water on the sand as it swings.
So, what was that new toy called?
He has waited quite a while to invent a second toy
Anyone know what this "NEW CREATION" actually is? Was it ever released? His Wikipedia page doesn't list any products that seem like they could have come from this particular experimentation. Basically just the Spirograph, some Spirograph derivatives, the Etch-a-Sketch, and a bunch of licensed projects.
so what was his new creation called? Or did it never come to fruition? I'd like to know :)
That lawn looked like a carpet
"Four years of his life was nothing but a failure." Oof.
That seems like it ended in the middle. Where is the 2nd half of the story? Where is the Spirograph we all had as kids? Where are the TEETH?