We were asked by Jean Jackson of Nottingham City Museums to create a table top game at her event '1940's Knees Up'.
We decided to make Thaumatropes, which is an early form of animation.
When the strings are twirled rapidly the card rotates and the two images appear to combine. Invented by John Ayrton Paris (1785-1856), an English physician, in 1825, the Thaumatrope was the first instrument to exploit the persistence of images on the retina.
Persistence of vision refers to the optical illusion that occurs when we can see an object for some time after the rays of light coming from it have stopped entering the eye.