THE HARMONOGRAPH; QR Code & "Keyword" Reception Page

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Thanks for visiting THE HARMONOGRAPH; a specialty general science and physics educational website.

You have probably landed here because you ran across my QR Code somewhere or Googled an archaic term related to the Harmonograph, and curiosity has gotten the best of you. The Harmonograph website is an exploration of pendulum drawing toys which were popular in the Victorian Era (1850-1890), but are seldom seen today. 

I conduct a travelling physics exhibit featuring several large harmonographs (pendulum drawing machines) which I demonstrate at schools, science centers and other eclectic venues. I also conduct a spectacular science and physics exhibition for the twelve days of the New York State Fair in Syracuse, NY, USA. 

My Harmonograph exhibit is very expensive to operate and is totally self supported. This website is utilized to educate and also to sell unique harmonograms (continuous curve harmonograph drawings) and other related items to raise operating capital for the exhibit. 

I am also seeking an "Angel" to sponsor my New York State Fair Educational Science Extravaganza (please contact me). Any donations are appreciated and will be put right to work as new displays and continuing vibration physics research.

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Continuous Curve Drawings

New York State Fair Science Exhibit

  

The following is a search engine attractor, or ‘word cache’ of esoteric harmonograph related terminology and nomenclature for the researcher.

Devices which utilize pendulums to create continuous curve drawings are scientifically classified as Harmonographs, and the renderings they produce are called Harmonograms (“Mathematical Models” (1951) Cundy & Rollett).

To help search for a particular pendulum drawing apparatus, it is useful to know some of the diverse and creative names they have given over the years:

  • Art Gizmo® (1967 Artco)
  • Benham’s Triple Pendulum (1909 Benham)
  • Blackburn Pendulum (1844 Blackburn)
  • Dobson Duplex Pendulum (1877 Dobson)
  • Double Pendulum (1894 Bryan)
  • Gravity Graph® (1970 Magic Rainbow)
  • Harmonograph® (Moscovich)  (1969 Peter Pan)
  • Lissajous Figure Drawing Machines (various)
  • Mini Gravity Graph® (1970 Magic Rainbow)
  • Pen Doodler® (Magic Rainbow)
  • Pen-Dul-Art®, Pendul Art® (1970 Magic Rainbow)
  • Pendulight® (The Bloomfield Science Museum, Jerusalem)
  • Pendulograph (1895, Andrew)
  • Pen-Doodle-Um® (1987 Dee Bee Inc.)
  • Quadruple Harmonic-Motion Pendulum (1899 Hoferer)
  • Spiroman® (1968 Kenner Products, Co.)
  • Suspension Art® (1989 Kenner Products, Co.)
  • Swing Ding® (1960’s)Swing-O-Graph® (1970 Dübreq [Gonis])
  • Swingo® (1970[?] Dübreq [Gonis])
  • Sympalmograph (1877 Browning, Benham)
  • Tisley’s Compound Pendulum (1873, Tisley)
  • Tisley’s Harmonograph (1877 Tisley & Spiller)
  • Twin-elliptic Pendulum (1906 Benham)
  • Y-suspended Pendulum (1815, Bowditch)  

Devices which utilize gears, pulleys and linkages to create designs are scientifically classified as Mechanographs, and the renderings they produce are Mechanograms (“Mathematical Models” (1951) Cundy & Rollett).  These gadgets are also commonly known as Spirographs®, after the very popular and timeless toys marketed by Kenner Products, Co., et al.

Here are just a few of the diverse names utilized for this family of drawing devices: 
    • Campylograph (1900 Dechevrens)
    • Creighton Compound Harmonic Motion Machine (1924 Rigge)
    • Cycloidotrope (1883 Pumphery)
    • Cyclo-harmonograph (1916 Moritz)
    • Lab 2000 Design-A-Round® (1978 NSI)
    • Geometric Chuck (1833 Ibbetson)
    • Harmonic Curve Apparatus (1873 Donkin)
    • Hypotrocoid Art Set (2008 China)
    • Kukulograph (1933 Hoferer)
    • Lissajous Apparatus (1869 Pickering)
    • Rotograph®, The (1970’s Rutland)
    • Schemagraph (1968 Bulman)
    • Spectograph®, Aka Spectrograph® (1977 Kenner Products, Co.)
    • Spirograph® (1967 Kenner Products, Co.) - Aka: New, Deluxe, Super, Sparkle, Day-Glow, Magnetic, Motorized, Sidewalk, My First, 3D, and -Plus, -Refill, -401
    • Spirotot® (1968 Kenner Products, Co.)
    • Turntable Oscillators (1971 Project Physics)
    • Twirl-O-Graph® (1960’s Ohio Art)
    • Tyrograph (1970’s India)
    • Wondergraph (1913 Tuck)

Vintage Harmonograph How-tos