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 ? 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.

However, it is the Spin Master company that owns the toy, and they are based in Canada’s Toronto area. Therefore, there is very much an international feel when it comes to this toy, as it comes from France, is owned in Canada, yet is manufactured in America. This is very much reflective of the fact that this toy has an international audience and is loved all around the world. As touched upon earlier, there have been a number of different improvements and changes made to the Etch a Sketch over the years. For example, one of the most significant was the introduction of the Color Etch a Sketch in 1993.Nelson, Valerie J. (2 February 2013). "Andre Cassagnes dies at 86; Etch A Sketch inventor". Los Angeles Times. 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. O'Reilly, Terry (27 April 2013). "Brand Envy". CBC Radio One: Under the Influence . Retrieved 28 April 2013.

Although the Etch A Sketch’s inner workings might seem like a mystery, they’re actually pretty straightforward. The inside of the toy’s glass screen is covered with aluminum powder, which has tiny beads mixed in to keep it from clumping. A stylus is connected to a pulley system, which, in turn, is attached to the horizontal and vertical metal rods. These rods are affixed to two knobs. When you move the knobs, the stylus is dragged through the powder, creating a line. Not happy with your drawing? All you have to do is shake the toy, and the aluminum powder will re-coat the screen and erase the markings. 7. IT FOUND A MARKET VIA TELEVISION. ANDRÉ CASSAGNES, CREATOR OF ETCH A SKETCH, DIES AT THE AGE OF 86". Toy Industry Association, Inc. 25 January 2013. Archived from the original on 8 November 2013 . Retrieved 24 January 2018. Wee, Heesun (22 February 2013). "Etch A Sketch's Incredible Toy Legacy – And Burden". CNBC . Retrieved 9 May 2019. Some of the image captions in this section may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia guidelinesfor succinctness. Please improve this article if you can. ( June 2023) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) In 1993, Ohio launched a color Etch A Sketch. [7] Similar to the original Etch A Sketch, it used the traditional two-knob interface to draw, but also featured six colors. It also had the ability to produce a color copy of each picture drawn.And that’s part of the fun, isn’t it? Not knowing how it works? The idea – in a young, fertile imagination – that it might actually be magic? If you prefer to think of it that way, I can’t blame you, but you should stop reading, because here’s what’s going on under the screen: 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] Seewer, John (24 December 1999). "Etch A Sketch's big screen break worth millions". The Bryan Times . Retrieved 7 November 2013. Even if you didn’t grow up to become an artist, chances are you honed your childhood drawing skills on an Etch A Sketch. Here are 11 nostalgia-inducing facts about the classic toy, in honor of National Etch A Sketch Day. 1. IT’S A PRODUCT OF FRANCE. 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.

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. 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.The Etch A Sketch toy was invented in the late 1950s by André Cassagnes, [1] [5] [6] an electrician with Lincrusta Co, who named the toy L'Écran Magique (The Magic Screen). [2] In 1959, he took his drawing toy to the International Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Germany. The Ohio Art Company saw it but had no interest in the toy. When Ohio Art saw the toy a second time, they decided to take a chance on the product. L'Écran Magique was soon renamed the Etch A Sketch and became the most popular drawing toy in the business. After a complex series of negotiations, the Ohio Art Company launched the toy in the United States in time for the 1960 Christmas season with the name "Etch A Sketch". Ohio Art supported the toy with a televised advertising campaign. [7] Jeff’s Etch-A-Sketch Art has been displayed at the Denver Art Museum and the Berkshire Museum in Massachusetts, as well as galleries around the country. He’s been a guest on numerous ABC and NBC news shows including Good Morning America, and his Etch-A-Sketch work has appeared in many publications including People Magazine, The USA Today, Omni Magazine and Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. He lives with his wife Nanci near Boulder, Colorado. This was present in Cassagnes’s original designs. He later re-designed the toy to have two knobs. 4. TOY MANUFACTURERS ORIGINALLY REJECTED THE ETCH A SKETCH.