Saturday, April 12, 2014

K is for Kaleidoscope



Did you have one of those wonderful kaleidoscope toys? Cardboard tubes filled with bits of colored plastic. Point it at the light and away with the fun.  A bit of cheap joy.  Though I wonder if they would be as cheap to buy now? Probably not.   They seemed so ubiquitous when I was kid.  

I loved how a quick flick of the wrist could change the colors and design. Each new combination just as beautiful as the last.  Insta-art at its best.  This Silk app reminded me of that. 

    http://weavesilk.com/


 






16 comments:

  1. Hey,guess what? You are the first blogger I'm stopping by today in my daily rounds and what do I see? Both of us are writing about Kaleidoscope!!! What a pleasant surprise!!

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  2. That is a cool app. And weird timing. I tripped over a kaleidoscope yesterday and found myself wondering if kids these days really still played with them.

    And then I realized I used the phrase "Kids these days."

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  3. That's funny! It's moments like that that make me feel "old". Or when I find myself thinking "You're growing so fast! How can you be ___ already!" about some of my friends' kids. I remember when grown ups used to say that to me.

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  4. I sell vintage jewelry on eBay and just last week I sold a Kaleidoscope pendant necklace. It was very simple without much pattern as it was only a 1/2" wide. But I remember the ones I had as a kid and I loved playing with them. Makes me think I should check out eBay for one just for fun. Thanks for bringing back the memories of childhood, seems so far away.

    Brenda Williamson

    www.AnEclecticAuthor.blogspot.com

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    1. That sounds like a beautiful piece of jewelry. It's fun to remember how completely absorbed by the enjoyment of something it was possible to be as a kid.

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  5. I had a kaleidoscope as a kid and loved it. I also had a stereoscope - one of those things that looks like binoculars and when you put a disk of pictures in, you can view them like they're 3D. Yeah...I'm old... lol
    Lexa Cain’s Blog

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    1. Oh stereoscopes! Is that what they were called? My grandma had one she let us look at sometimes, and it was so much fun. Travel to all the wonders of the world with each change of a picture. Eiffel tower. Chicago World's Fair. Niagara Falls. The Swiss Alps. Those were pretty fun too.

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  6. They are great pics. I don't remember my old kaleidoscope being quite so beautiful, but it was still a treasured toy. Thanks for jogging a memory :) Happy A-Z'ing.

    http://thewayofwytch.wordpress.com/

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  7. Love kaleidoscopes - so fascinating.
    I couldn't find any way of following your blog.
    Lots of interesting blogs on the A-Z. All the best.

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    1. Oh. Thanks for letting me know, Fanny!! I wonder if I deleted something when I was trying to add the A-Z logo. Normally there is at least one or two options. Do you have a way you prefer to follow blogs?

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  8. I also had one as a kid and remember being somewhat frightened by it at first. It seemed like spooky preying mantises and other sinister beings were exploding inside it. My dad explained the science of it, the mirrors and such, and then I could simply enjoy the way patterns expanded and collapsed.

    Only very high-end toy stores carry kaleidoscopes any more and they're not so cheap. My daughter had to be content with a hand-me-down from her daddy (I think mine was handed down to my nieces).

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    1. Love that description! It really is fascinating how it works. Glad your daughter and nieces are still getting to enjoy this toy, even though the lowly kaleidoscope seems to have moved up in the world.

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  9. Yeah, I remember one of those cheap kaleidescopes. It's all done with mirrors, literally! :) Nice to meet you.

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