A secret decoder ring (or secret decoder) is a device which allows one to decode a simple substitution cipher - or to encrypt a message by working in the opposite direction.
As inexpensive toys, they have been often used as promotional items by retailers, radio and television programs from the 1930s through to the current day. Decoders, whether badges or rings, are a fun way for children to tap into a common fascination with encryption, ciphers, and secret codes, and are used to send hidden messages back and forth to one another.
Read more about Secret Decoder Ring: History, Messages, Current Producer
Famous quotes containing the words secret and/or ring:
“I do the wrong, and first begin to brawl.
The secret mischiefs that I set abroach
I lay unto the grievous charge of others.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“With this Ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow.”
—Book Of Common Prayer, The. Solemnization of Matrimony, “Wedding,” (1662)