Etch A Sketch creator dies in Paris

The inventor of the Etch A Sketch, the famous red toy that generations of children drew on, shook up and started over, has died…

The classic Etch A Sketch, which was introduced in 1960
The classic Etch A Sketch, which was introduced in 1960

The inventor of the Etch A Sketch, the famous red toy that generations of children drew on, shook up and started over, has died in France.

The Ohio Art Company, based in Bryan in northwest Ohio, USA, said 86-year-old André Cassagnes died on January 16th in a Paris suburb.

Ohio Art president Larry Killgallon said the firm would always be grateful for an invention that had brought joy to so many.

The Toy Industry Association says Mr Cassagnes came upon the Etch A Sketch idea in the late 1950s. He peeled a translucent decal from a light switch plate and found pencil mark images transferred to the opposite face.

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The toy has two knobs that are twisted to create drawings. A shake erases the image.