Secret decoder ring
A secret decoder ring (or secret decoder) is a device that allows one to decode a simple substitution cipher—or to encrypt a message by working in the opposite direction.[1]
As inexpensive toys, secret decoders have often been used as promotional items by retailers, as well as radio and television programs, from the 1930s through to the current day. Decoders, whether badges or rings, are an entertaining way for children to tap into a common fascination with encryption, ciphers, and secret codes, and are used to send hidden messages back and forth to one another.
History
Secret decoders are generally circular scales, descendants of the cipher disk developed in the 15th century by Leon Battista Alberti. Rather than the complex polyalphabetic Alberti cipher method, the decoders for children invariably use simple Caesar cipher substitutions.
The most well-known example started in 1934 with the
None of these early decoders were in the form of
Today, high quality, stainless steel decoder rings for children and adults are being produced by companies such as Retroworks[4] and ThinkGeek.[5]
Messages
Ovaltine and other companies that marketed early decoders to children often included "secret messages" on their radio shows aimed at children. These could be decoded for a preview of the next episode of the show.
Film references
The film
Decoder rings are mentioned by Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in Last Action Hero.
A "Drogan's Decoder Wheel" is mentioned in the 1985 comedy movie Spies Like Us by characters played by Stephen Hoye and Dan Aykroyd.[7]
Laura Petrie mentions her husband Rob's "Captain Midnight Decoder Ring," in Season 5, episode 27 of The Dick Van Dyke Show.
See also
References
- ^ Hipschman, Ron (1995), The Secret Language, retrieved 2011-01-10
- ^ a b CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT AND DECODER RINGS, Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
- ^ The Ovaltine "Secret Decoder Ring", John Olsen
- ^ "Retroworks - Secret Decoder Rings". shopretroworks.com.
- ^ Cloninger, Janet (15 March 2011). "Encode Your Messages with the ThinkGeek Secret Decoder Ring". The Gadgeteer. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ Olsen, John, "A short history of Radio's Orphan Annie and her Decoder Badges", Radio Archives, retrieved 2012-01-09
- ^ Spies Like Us, Wikiquote, 8 April 2020, retrieved 2012-01-09