Etch A Sketch, Classic Red Drawing Toy with Magic Screen, for Ages 3 and Up

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Cassagnes’ investor, Paul Chaze, took the toy to several European toy fairs, but it drew little interest. Executives from the Ohio Art Company saw it at the 1959 International Toy Fair in Nuremburg, Germany, and didn’t think much of it at first, either. But they decided to take a chance on the product. [Image credit: The Invisible Agent]

In 2001, manufacturing was moved to a plant in Shenzhen, China, to cut production costs. The Ohio Art Company was facing bankruptcy before securing financing to stay viable. It sold the rights to the Etch A Sketch name and the design to the Toronto-based Spin Master Corporation in February 2016. The toy got into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2003, the Toy Industry Association named Etch A Sketch one of the 100 most memorable toys of the 20th century.Thank you everyone: Hunter, officialfuel, RonM, AuntieQ18 and Zatsoc. I appreciate you all looking, loving and liking. Lao Originally, the toy used a plate glass screen, which was criticized by safety advocates for being easily broken and a danger to children. [8] In November 1970, Consumers Union filed a petition with the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, asking for emergency action under the 1969 Child Protection and Toy Safety Act. [9] The Food and Drug Administration responded that the toy had been redesigned, replacing the glass plate with plastic. [10] A lot of people reading this will have great memories of using their Etch a Sketch as a child. At the time, it seemed like the best invention out there! For those who are unaware or need their memory jogging, an Etch a Sketch has a flat grey screen, which is housed in a red frame. This happened in New York at Rochester’s The Strong, which is a collections-based and interactive educational institution. It was also listed in the Century of Toys List by the Toy Association in 2003. There is no denying that this is a toy that has had a massive impression and will go down in history as one of the most memorable and successful toys of the 20th century. There have been more than 100 million units of this toy sold around the globe. Pretty impressive, right?

a b "Etch A Sketch Creator Dies". Gifts & Decorative Accessories Magazine. 31 January 2013. Archived from the original on 2 February 2013 . Retrieved 2 February 2013.The toy initially used a plate-glass screen but was replaced with plastic for safety reasons. In 1995, the Etch A Sketch toy featured in the 1995 Pixar animated film “Toy Story.” It had a 12-second feature that was enough to give a significant sales boost. The production line had to work overtime to meet the demand. U.S. company sells Etch A Sketch to Toronto toy firm". The Canadian Press. 12 February 2016. Archived from the original on 12 February 2016.

While the Etch A Sketch seems as American as apple pie, it’s actually a French invention. According to lore, an electrician named Andre Cassagnes was installing a light fixture in a factory during the 1950s. The factory produced an ornate embossed wall covering called Lincrusta. Aluminum powder used in the manufacturing process made its way onto a light-switch plate that Cassagnes was installing, and he noticed that when he made pencil marks on the plate’s translucent protective decal, they showed up on its other side. Turns out, Cassagnes’s pencil had raked a line through the metallic powder, displacing the particles that had clung to the decal thanks to an electrostatic charge. Observing this phenomenon inspired Cassagnes to create his own drawing toy using a plotter and aluminum powder. 2. CREDIT IS OFTEN GIVEN TO THE WRONG INVENTOR. André Cassagnes (September 23, 1926 – January 16, 2013) was a French inventor, electrical technician, toymaker, and kite designer. Cassagnes is best known as the inventor of the Etch A Sketch, a popular mechanical drawing toy manufactured since 2016 by Spin Master, formerly by the Ohio Art Company. [1]Fuels commonly used in thermite include powdered aluminum, magnesium, calcium and boron. Common oxidizers are boron(III) oxide, silicon(IV) oxide, manganese(IV) oxide and iron(III) oxide. Toy Industry Association Announces Its Century of Toys List". Business Wire. 21 January 2003 . Retrieved 5 March 2022. I hope they (Ohio Art) sent you a letter you can use to prove what you're saying, that would make this unique. I think I would ask them for that sort of letter for your own use..maybe notarized ?

Also inside are horizontal and vertical bars connected by thin steel wires to the knobs on the face of the toy. A stylus is mounted where the two bars cross, so when you turn a knob, it moves its bar and the bar moves the stylus. As the stylus moves across the inside surface of the screen, it scrapes off the aluminum powder and creates a dark line on the light gray screen, which is just the darkness of the toy’s interior set against the lighter aluminum powder. Nelson, Valerie J. (2 February 2013). "Andre Cassagnes dies at 86; Etch A Sketch inventor". Los Angeles Times.The Etch A Sketch was showcased at the 1959 Nuremberg Toy Fair, but toy companies didn’t want to pay a steep fee for the rights. Eventually, Ohio Art—who is said to have also passed on the Etch A Sketch—reconsidered and acquired the invention. 5. IT ALSO HAD A DIFFERENT NAME.