1. André Cassagnes, Inventor of the Etch A Sketch (1926-2013)
A French electrician, Cassanges had the idea for the toy come to him while installing a light switch plate that was coated in aluminium powder. After making some pencil marks on the powder, he noticed that the marks were also visible on the other side of the plate. He took the idea of making electrostatic designs to entertainment, developing what he called L’Écran Magique (the Magic Screen). Ohio Art bought the design from Cassanges in 1959 for $25,000, which is the equivalent of nearly $200,000 today.
3. The Etch A Sketch Animator
In 1986, Ohio Art put out the Etch A Sketch Animator, which let you create simple animated drawings and even save them.
6. As a Response:
Ohio Art capitalizes on what could have been some bad press and puts out some tongue-in-cheek ads. One read, “We have a left knob and a right knob for each political party. But remember, when both work together, we can do loop de loops.” Another said, “Etch A Sketch is a lot like politics. There’s a lot of gray area.”
7. TV and Film Appearances
In season one of Breaking Bad, Walt gets the idea to dismantle a bunch of Etch A Sketches for the aluminium powder inside, which he and Jesse use to create thermite to burn through a door. Badass. Of course, we have to assume there’s no way Etch A Sketch would give Breaking Bad permission to use its product, so what you see in the episode instead are green “Sketcher-roos.”