Found my old Spirograph set in my mom's attic

I was cleaning out my mom's basement last Saturday and stumbled on my old Spirograph set from the 80s. The gears were still in the plastic case with most of the pens dried up. I spent a good hour just making those swirling flower patterns again, and honestly it was way more relaxing than I expected. The plastic pins that hold the big ring in place are cracked on mine, so the patterns shift around a bit now. Still, there's something about watching those colored lines build up layer by layer that a tablet game just can't touch. Did anyone else have one of these and find it still holds up?

3 comments

3 Comments

holly_price27d ago

Watching those colored lines build up layer by layer" is exactly it. I read something recently about how old analog toys like this force your brain to slow down in a way that feels almost like meditation now.

oliver_anderson26d ago

Yeah it's that forced slowdown that gets you. With digital stuff you can just undo mistakes or zoom around, but with the Spirograph you're committed once that pen hits the paper. The whole process has a rhythm to it like you're building something real. Even the messed up parts from broken pins add character, you know?

patking5d ago

Even the messed up parts from broken pins add character" - that's honestly the best part though. I've kept a couple of my old Spirograph drawings where the gear slipped halfway through and the lines went crazy. They look way more interesting than the perfect ones. Although I gotta say the forced slowdown isn't meditation for me, it's more like controlled frustration lol. Like yeah I'm committed to this spiral whether I like it or not.