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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Secret decoder ring</span></span>

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<p>A <b>secret decoder ring</b> (or <b>secret decoder</b>) is a device that allows one to decode a simple <a href="Substitution_cipher" title="Substitution cipher">substitution cipher</a>—or to encrypt a message by working in the opposite direction.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>As inexpensive toys, secret decoders have often been used as promotional items by retailers, as well as radio and television programs, from the 1930s through to the current day.

Decoders, whether badges or rings, are an entertaining way for children to tap into a common fascination with <a href="Encryption" title="Encryption">encryption</a>, <a href="Cipher" title="Cipher">ciphers</a>, and <a href="Cryptography" title="Cryptography">secret codes</a>, and are used to send hidden messages back and forth to one another.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History">History</h2></div>

<p>Secret decoders are generally circular scales, descendants of the <a href="Cipher_disk" title="Cipher disk">cipher disk</a> developed in the 15th century by <a href="Leon_Battista_Alberti" title="Leon Battista Alberti">Leon Battista Alberti</a>. Rather than the complex polyalphabetic <a href="Alberti_cipher" title="Alberti cipher">Alberti cipher</a> method, the decoders for children invariably use simple <a href="Caesar_cipher" title="Caesar cipher">Caesar cipher</a> substitutions.

</p><p>The most well-known example started in 1934 with the <a href="Ovaltine" title="Ovaltine">Ovaltine</a> company's sponsored radio program <i><a href="Little_Orphan_Annie_(radio)" class="mw-redirect" title="Little Orphan Annie (radio)">Little Orphan Annie</a></i>.<sup id="cite_ref-cm_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cm-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The show's fan club, "Radio Orphan Annie's Secret Society", distributed a member's handbook that included a simple substitution cipher with a resulting numeric cipher text. This was followed the next year with a membership pin that included a cipher disk—enciphering the letters A–Z to numbers 1–26. From 1935 to 1940, metal decoders were produced for the promotion. From 1941 on, paper decoders were produced. Similar metal badges and pocket decoders continued with the <i><a href="Captain_Midnight" title="Captain Midnight">Captain Midnight</a></i> radio and television programs.

</p><p>None of these early decoders were in the form of <a href="Ring_(jewelry)" class="mw-redirect" title="Ring (jewelry)">finger rings</a>; however, "secret compartment" rings were common radio program premiums.<sup id="cite_ref-cm_2-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cm-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In the early 1960s, secret decoder rings appeared—notably in conjunction with the <i><a href="Jonny_Quest_(TV_series)" title="Jonny Quest (TV series)">Jonny Quest</a></i> television program sponsored by <a href="PF_Flyers" title="PF Flyers">PF Shoes</a>. A later, less ornate, decoder ring was offered by Kix Cereals.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Today, high quality, stainless steel decoder rings for children and adults are being produced by companies such as Retroworks<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and <a href="ThinkGeek" title="ThinkGeek">ThinkGeek</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Messages">Messages</h2></div>

<p>Ovaltine and other companies that marketed early decoders to children often included "secret messages" on their <a href="Radio" title="Radio">radio</a> shows aimed at children. These could be decoded for a preview of the next episode of the show.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Film_references">Film references</h2></div>

<p>The film <i><a href="A_Christmas_Story" title="A Christmas Story">A Christmas Story</a></i> (1983) depicts the <i><a href="Little_Orphan_Annie_(radio)" class="mw-redirect" title="Little Orphan Annie (radio)">Little Orphan Annie</a></i> radio show transmitting a secret message that deciphered to: "Be sure to drink your <a href="Ovaltine" title="Ovaltine">Ovaltine</a>", unlike the actual broadcasts' secret code segments, which usually previewed the upcoming episode.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Decoder rings are mentioned by Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in <i><a href="Last_Action_Hero" title="Last Action Hero">Last Action Hero</a></i>.

</p><p>A "Drogan's Decoder Wheel" is mentioned in the 1985 comedy movie <i><a href="Spies_Like_Us" title="Spies Like Us">Spies Like Us</a></i> by characters played by Stephen Hoye and <a href="Dan_Aykroyd" title="Dan Aykroyd">Dan Aykroyd</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Laura Petrie mentions her husband Rob's "Captain Midnight Decoder Ring," in Season 5, episode 27 of <i><a href="The_Dick_Van_Dyke_Show" title="The Dick Van Dyke Show">The Dick Van Dyke Show</a></i>.

</p><p><a href="Kevin_Pollak" title="Kevin Pollak">Kevin Pollak</a> character Moishe Maisel finds a toy decoder ring in the cereal box of his grandson Ethan on <a href="Yom_Kippur" title="Yom Kippur">Yom Kippur</a> in season 2, episode 7 of "<a href="The_Marvelous_Mrs._Maisel" title="The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel">The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel</a>" ("Look, She Made a Hat").

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<ul><li><a href="Caesar_cipher" title="Caesar cipher">Caesar cipher</a> – Simple and widely known encryption technique</li>

<li><a href="Cipher_disk" title="Cipher disk">Cipher disk</a> – Encryption and decryption tool consisting of two metal plates with alphabets</li>

<li><a href="Jefferson_disk" title="Jefferson disk">Jefferson disk</a> – Cipher system attributed to Thomas Jefferson</li>

<li><a href="Radio_premium" title="Radio premium">Radio premium</a> – Advertising gimmick</li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

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</style><cite id="CITEREFHipschman1995" class="citation cs2">Hipschman, Ron (1995), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/secret/secret.html"><i>The Secret Language</i></a><span class="reference-accessdate">, retrieved <span class="nowrap">2011-01-10</span></span></cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-cm-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-cm_2-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-cm_2-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.mwotrc.com/rr2005_08/decoders.htm">CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT AND DECODER RINGS</a>, Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.</span>

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<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://home.comcast.net/~jrolsen2/premiums/ovaltine.html">The Ovaltine "Secret Decoder Ring"</a>, John Olsen</span>

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<li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://shopretroworks.com/">"Retroworks - Secret Decoder Rings"</a>. shopretroworks.com.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFCloninger2011" class="citation web cs1">Cloninger, Janet (15 March 2011). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/03/15/encode-your-messages-with-the-thinkgeek-secret-decoder-ring/">"Encode Your Messages with the ThinkGeek Secret Decoder Ring"</a>. The Gadgeteer<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">8 September</span> 2022</span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFOlsen" class="citation cs2">Olsen, John, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.radioarchives.com/Little_Orphan_Annie_p/ra005.htm">"A short history of Radio's Orphan Annie and her Decoder Badges"</a>, <i>Radio Archives</i><span class="reference-accessdate">, retrieved <span class="nowrap">2012-01-09</span></span></cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation cs2"><a class="external text external" href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Spies_Like_Us"><i>Spies Like Us</i></a>, Wikiquote, 8 April 2020<span class="reference-accessdate">, retrieved <span class="nowrap">2012-01-09</span></span></cite></span>

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