were placed on interlocking gears, preventing any slippage. Resetting the cipher elements utilized a small key that was inserted into slots over one of the gears, which could be disengaged, using the key and a leaf spring as a simple clutch mechanism. References in popular culture A Code-O-Graph-like secret decoder ring was featured in the 1983 movie A Christmas Story as an object of both joy and frustration. Richard Farina - Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me (1966) - talks about it in Chapter one, listing it first in the list of the "only possessions and necessities of his life." (p. 4, in the 1983 Penguin edition) References Tomart's Price Guide to Radio Premium and Cereal Box Collectibles Tom Tumbusch (Radnor, PA: Wallace-Homestead, 1991 ) Encryption devices History of cryptography 1930s toys