Editing Secret decoder ring

{{short description|Device for decoding a substitution cipher}}
[[File:Captain-midnight-decoder.jpg|thumb|A [[Captain Midnight]] decoder badge]]

A '''secret decoder ring''' (or '''secret decoder''') is a device that allows one to decode a simple [[substitution cipher]]—or to encrypt a message by working in the opposite direction.<ref>{{Citation
 | last = Hipschman
 | first = Ron
 | title = The Secret Language
 | year = 1995
 | url = http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/secret/secret.html
 | accessdate = 2011-01-10}}</ref>

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 [[encryption]], [[cipher]]s, and [[Cryptography|secret codes]], and are used to send hidden messages back and forth to one another.

==History==
Secret decoders are generally circular scales, descendants of the [[cipher disk]] developed in the 15th century by [[Leon Battista Alberti]]. Rather than the complex polyalphabetic [[Alberti cipher]] method, the decoders for children invariably use simple [[Caesar cipher]] substitutions.

The most well-known example started in 1934 with the [[Ovaltine]] company's sponsored radio program ''[[Little Orphan Annie (radio)|Little Orphan Annie]]''.<ref name=cm>[http://www.mwotrc.com/rr2005_08/decoders.htm CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT AND DECODER RINGS], Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.</ref> 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 ''[[Captain Midnight]]'' radio and television programs.

None of these early decoders were in the form of [[Ring (jewelry)|finger rings]]; however, "secret compartment" rings were common radio program premiums.<ref name=cm/> In the early 1960s, secret decoder rings appeared—notably in conjunction with the ''[[Jonny Quest (TV series)|Jonny Quest]]'' television program sponsored by [[PF Flyers|PF Shoes]]. A later, less ornate, decoder ring was offered by Kix Cereals.<ref>[http://home.comcast.net/~jrolsen2/premiums/ovaltine.html The Ovaltine "Secret Decoder Ring"], John Olsen</ref>

Today, high quality, stainless steel decoder rings for children and adults are being produced by companies such as Retroworks<ref>{{Cite web |title=Retroworks - Secret Decoder Rings |url=https://shopretroworks.com/ |publisher=shopretroworks.com}}</ref> and [[ThinkGeek]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cloninger |first=Janet |date=15 March 2011 |title=Encode Your Messages with the ThinkGeek Secret Decoder Ring |url=https://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/03/15/encode-your-messages-with-the-thinkgeek-secret-decoder-ring/ |publisher=The Gadgeteer |access-date=8 September 2022}}</ref>

==Messages==
Ovaltine and other companies that marketed early decoders to children often included "secret messages" on their [[radio]] shows aimed at children. These could be decoded for a preview of the next episode of the show.

==Film references==
The film ''[[A Christmas Story]]'' (1983) depicts the ''[[Little Orphan Annie (radio)|Little Orphan Annie]]'' radio show transmitting a secret message that deciphered to: "Be sure to drink your [[Ovaltine]]", unlike the actual broadcasts' secret code segments, which usually previewed the upcoming episode.<ref>{{Citation|last=Olsen |first=John |title=A short history of Radio's Orphan Annie and her Decoder Badges |url=http://www.radioarchives.com/Little_Orphan_Annie_p/ra005.htm |accessdate=2012-01-09 |website=Radio Archives}}</ref>

Decoder rings are mentioned by Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in ''[[Last Action Hero]]''.

A "Drogan's Decoder Wheel" is mentioned in the 1985 comedy movie ''[[Spies Like Us]]'' by characters played by Stephen Hoye and [[Dan Aykroyd]].<ref>{{Citation|title=Spies Like Us |date=8 April 2020 |url=https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Spies_Like_Us |publisher=Wikiquote |accessdate=2012-01-09}}</ref>

Laura Petrie mentions her husband Rob's "Captain Midnight Decoder Ring," in Season 5, episode 27 of ''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]''.

[[Kevin Pollak]] character Moishe Maisel finds a toy decoder ring in the cereal box of his grandson Ethan on [[Yom Kippur]] in season 2, episode 7 of "[[The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel]]" ("Look, She Made a Hat").

== See also ==

* {{annotated link|Caesar cipher}}
* {{annotated link|Cipher disk}}
* {{annotated link|Jefferson disk}}
* {{annotated link|Radio premium}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Encryption devices]]
[[Category:History of cryptography]]
[[Category:Mechanical puzzles]]
[[Category:1930s toys]]