Kolorful Kaleidoscopes

ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. This fabulous meme was created and hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt who hails from Great Britain. Over time, others have joined in to help host this wonderful and informative meme. We are now in our EIGHTH round! Some of the participants have been with this from the very first round; others have joined in along the way. Each week we are taken across the globe to see the varied and exciting contributions people have taken the time to discover and capture. We start with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. This week's letter is, "K".

Kaleidoscope

Description and history from Wikipedia:

"The kaleidoscope was invented in 1814 by Sir David Brewster when he was conducting experiments on light polarization^[1] and was not patented until 2 years later. His initial design was a tube with pairs of mirrors at one end, pairs of translucent disks at the other, and beads between the two. Initially intended as a science tool, the kaleidoscope was later copied as a toy. Brewster later believed he would make money from this popular invention; however, a fault in the wording of his patent allowed others to copy his invention.^{[citation needed]}
Cozy Baker—founder of The Brewster Kaleidoscope Society—collected kaleidoscopes and wrote books about a few of the artists making them in the 1970s through 2000. Baker is credited with energizing a renaissance in kaleidoscope-making in America. In 1999 a short-lived magazine dedicated to kaleidoscopes—one called Kaleidoscope Review—was published, covering artists, collectors, dealers, events, and including how-to articles. This magazine was created and edited by Brett Bensley, at that time a well-known kaleidoscope artist and resource on kaleidoscope information."

These were all taken on my cell phone because the nice folks at the Nellie Bly Kaleidoscope Store in Jerome, AZ gave us that nifty tip. And, they allow folks to do so in their store-take photographs. It is the best kaleidoscope store I've ever been in and even in this down turned economy, they are alive and well. Perhaps because of the happiness that it brings?

I would like to clarify however, that not all of these shots were taken in their store as the last time I was there in 2009, I had bought me a couple of small scopes and photographed them at home. Can you see the baseball on a display stand in this one?

This is a flower display they have outside of their store with a large scope above it so that folks can view the pretty flowers through a scope.

All of the images that have a triangular black vignette around them are from a small scope that is made from a peep hole that goes into your front door. It has a glass marble (clear) at the end and what ever object you view, gives you the refractions of that view. That's one of the ones I bought.

Often, I cannot even remember what the object was that I viewed and photographed! Such is the case here.

I think this one is my patio floor. I think. Don't quote me on it, though!  ; )