Zoetrope of dreams

The Zoetrope

What is a Zoetrope?

Some sources claim the Chinese inventor Ting Huan invented the device first in 180 AD.  His version hung over a lamp and would turn from the hot air currents that the lamp produced (although this is believed to be lies).   In the western world, the zoetrope was reinvented in 1834 by the British mathematician William George Horner (1786-1837). He called his invention the "daedalum" or “Wheel of the Devil.”

The Zoetrope produces the illusion of movement by viewing individual images through narrow slits in a rotating cylinder.  The cylinder is often made of cardboard because it's a cheap readily available material so people could make it in their homes given they had the few resources required and a degree of artistic ability.

How is it made?

First you'd get a cardboard cylinder with a solid bottom on it and evenly cut slits into the sides all the way round. 

Then you'd get a small piece of card or paper the same length as the circumference of the cylinder.  On this card would have a series of images drawn all slightly different. 

The strip of paper would be placed into the cylinder.

In the centre of the bottom of the cylinder a small hole would be cut and a stick or something of the sort would be inserted with a good enough fit that you could hold up the whole thing by the stick then you could spin it in your hands, this of course is only a cheap homemade variation of the toy.  

Some versions of the toy have wheel mechanisms that you would crank with your hand to spin the Zoetrope.

Advantages - could be made in the comfort of your own home, if you're artistic the designs are endless, offers more entertainment than its predecessor.

Disadvantages  - If you can't draw then you're going to have a bad Zoetrope and people will make fun of you.

Homemade Zoetrope in action