Denys Fisher, 84, inventor of the Spirograph...
Michael Rhodes
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
Matthew Hubbard
>
> 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.
A fine pastime of my youth. Thank you, Mr. Fisher.
Best wishes to his family, friends and fans,
MattH
Brigid Nelson
> 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.
I remember my first spirograph, received when I was five or six ('71
or'72). From my father's enthusiasm I assumed that the toy had been
around since he was a kid, but now I see that this was not the case. I
could get lost for hours in an exploration of all of the possible
combinations of wheels and hoops, and then there were the four colored
pens which meant even more variety of design. The paper never lasted
long enough.
Sometimes I had to pry it away from the adults to use it. I have to
wonder if the '70's fixation with string art was an outgrowth of Mr.
Fisher's toy. After all, a sting art picture required actual planning
and tool usage. They also took awhile, which meant that I could enjoy
my spirgraph with fewer interruptions.
When my daughter was 7 I bought her a spirograph. The pins and
cardboard had been replaced with a more child-friendly peg system and
the clear colorless wheels were now cheerfully flourescent shades of
green yellow and pink. The whole kit was cleverly packaged in a kind
of tray/caddy, everything could be kept together without the cardboard box.
My daughter took one look at the amazing toy and shoved it into the
nearest drawer, never to see the light of day again. Perhaps she was
too busy to appreciate the hypnotic quality of watching the design take
shape one revolution at a time. Perhaps if I had provided her with
black paper and gel pens she would have appreciated it more...
My son still lacks the dexterity necessary to control the pens and
wheels, perhaps Santa will put one in *my* stocking this year.
brigid
Paul Grayson
news:B8jm9.2877$lV3.2...@newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net...
> I remember my first spirograph, received when I was five or six ('71
> or'72). From my father's enthusiasm I assumed that the toy had been
> around since he was a kid, but now I see that this was not the case. I
> could get lost for hours in an exploration of all of the possible
> combinations of wheels and hoops, and then there were the four colored
> pens which meant even more variety of design. The paper never lasted
> long enough.
My cousin had one that had some plastic tracks that could be pinned
together. My sister got hold of the more standard set with many gears and
two rings.
There was also something called a Spiro 2000 that came out in 1977. Instead
of using toothed gears, it came with two 12" plastic plates with a 4-5" hole
in the centre. These plates had strange grove patterns etched into both
sides. One plate was placed ontop of a plastic frame that was pinned onto
the paper. There were notches in the plates and bumps on the frame that
allowed the plate to be rotated. Inside the frame was a cicular track which
ran around the outside of the drawing area. A clear plastic board that could
hold up to 3 pens rested with a pin in the circular track and a stylus that
went through one of a number of holes in the board into the track on the
plate. By tracing the pattern on the plate from one end to the other,
remarkable patterns could be drawn. The problem was replacing the
specialised pens when they ran out. Unfortunatly a google search to dig up
more on this remarkable idea reveals nothing.
Brigid Nelson
That sounds a lot like the one my brother had - he was five years
younger so the toys were pretty different. If memory serves, the
plastic plates held the paper securely without pins and the wheels ran
around the inside. I remember that the resulting designs were all the
same size.
I don't remember anything about being able to use multiple pens at once
- that would be too cool!
Here's a semi-cool site with a little info and pictures - I had the set
on the right, but I also remember playing with the one on the left.
http://www.yesterdayland.com/popopedia/shows/toys/ty1379.php
brigid
J.D. Baldwin
In the previous article, Michael Rhodes
<michaellawr...@btinternet.com> wrote:
> 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.
Coolest toy ever. Well, coolest indoor toy, ever, anyway.
The Spirograph inspired my first serious graphics program -- a spiral
drawing program for the old Tektronix vector-graphics terminals
(another very cool toy, BTW). I saved the program on a tape the size
and weight of a VHS tape, which probably held less than 100KB. There
was, as I recall, no way to print the code except to put a page on the
screen, then dump the screen to a graphics printer -- all of which was
prohibitively expensive.
Anyway, the program spirographed acceptably well, and I got an "A"
plus an early reputation for choosing interesting projects to
implement. So thanks, Mr. Fisher.
--
_+_ From the catapult of |If anyone disagrees with any statement I make, I
_|70|___:)=}- J.D. Baldwin |am quite prepared not only to retract it, but also
\ / bal...@panix.com|to deny under oath that I ever made it. -T. Lehrer
***~~~~-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Schenley
> pens at once - that would be too cool!
The Spirograph was "too cool." I have been buying them
for my kids for thirty years. We have a couple different
muli-pens sets ... but I think they may be made by RoseArt
and not *real* spirographs. Four pens at a time ... *And*
you can make them work (with a little ingenuity) with gel pens
on black paper ...
KazamaSmokers
Paul Grayson
> That sounds a lot like the one my brother had - he was five years
> younger so the toys were pretty different. If memory serves, the
> plastic plates held the paper securely without pins and the wheels ran
> around the inside. I remember that the resulting designs were all the
> same size.
That sounds different to the Spiro 2000. That was a very different concept
to the traditional spirograph. I wish I could find a web-site with a picture
of one.
> I don't remember anything about being able to use multiple pens at once
> - that would be too cool!
The pen holder could hold up to 3 pens simultaneously. I believe 4 pens were
supplied in total, and they fitted in a small rack when not in use. They
were impossible to replace.
Liz Wilson
Liz Wilson