Famous Toy Inventor Passes

Sad to hear that the inventor of the Etch a Sketch passed away. Frenchman Andre Cassagnes came up with the idea in his garage in the early 1950’s. Originally known as the The Magic Screen – it was displayed at a toy fair in Nuremberg, Germany in 1959 and it was the president of the Ohio Art Company who paid $25,000 for the rights to what eventually became the Etch a Sketch.

It was pretty high tech back then. It was made to look like a TV set with white knobs in the lower corners and by turning the knobs you could draw a picture or design. If you made a mistake or you wanted to change the picture all you had to do was shake it up and the screen went blank.

In 1960 it was the biggest selling toy at Christmas and since then 150-million have been sold.

It was inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester in 1998.