Arthur F. Blanchard patented this "movie writer" in 1916. He was a Harvard educated denizen of Cambridge, Massachusetts. His device was supposed to prompt writers with potential movie plots. Basically, it was a plot manufacturer. It consisted of a cardboard box with slots cut out on top that revealed words printed on spools. The spools poked out of the side of the device and the user would spin them in order to reveal a series of words, such as "Bold, beggar, captures, editor, affair, rejection." These words were to be the basis of a movie plot.
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