Thaumatrope
What is a Thaumatrope?
Thaumatropes were the first of many optical illusion toys. John A. Paris was responsible for the creation of the toy in 1825. Thaumatrope means "wonder turner" or "turning marvel" they provided a form of animation until the development of the cinema came into action.The design was simple and easy to make, all that was required was a circle piece of cardboard or something of the sort, a few pieces of string and a pencil to draw the designs.
Each side had an image drawn on it so when spun it gave of the impression that the two images are one, the faster the disc is spun the more convincing the illusion becomes.
How does it work?
To spin the disc, a string is held in each hand and rotated to wind the disc, the illusion would be kept alive by gently stretching the strings so that they would continue to unwind and rewind.Advantages - Easy to make, easy to use, cheap to make, the designs could be limitless to the right people.
Disadvantages - For the best quality you'd need to be a good artist to some extent.
Two well known examples of the Thaumatrope would be the bird in a cage and a dog scaring some birds.
Examples of modern day Thaumatropes
Here we can see many different designs and how
they are used.
