Some of my favorite treasures, found at thrift stores, are those items which evoke childhood memories. This Spirograph evoked like crazy!

This was one of the most unusual Christmas gift offerings 56 years ago. Engineers have been working on the interrelationship of geared wheels since the age of Ptolemy, but Denys Fisher, a British electronic engineer, was the first to visualize the meshing of gear teeth as the basis for a new art form. Who knew?

Professionals have actually used the Spirograph to design fabrics for dresses, patterns for plates, and ornaments used in printing. But for most people, it was enough to enjoy the fun of making the designs that the set produces in fascinating, endless variety.

I loved this, "Fun for math buffs, too. You needn’t have a bent for math to enjoy the Spirograph — but if you have, it will fascinate you all the more. From the gear ratio of any ring and wheel, a math buff can figure out how many points a design will have. And he can predict just how many times the wheel must roll around the ring to complete the figure — a help in telling when to change colors, so as to distribute them symmetrically in a multicolored design."

What thrilled me the most was the fact that my granddaughters loved my 'new' Spirograph as much as I remember loving it and over the course of their week- long Christmas stay, hours were spent playing with gears and discovering their own unique designs.