Etch A Sketch is a mechanical
drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...
toy
A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...
invented by
André Cassagnes of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and subsequently manufactured by the
Ohio Art Company
The Ohio Art Company is an American toy manufacturing company founded in 1908. Based in Bryan, Ohio, the company is principally engaged in two lines of business. The first line of business is the sales, marketing, and distribution of toys. The s ...
.
It is now owned by
Spin Master
Spin Master is a Canadian multinational toy and entertainment company that markets consumer products for children. Its brands include '' Bakugan'', Gund, Etch A Sketch, Meccano/ Erector, Air Hogs, ''PAW Patrol'', Aquadoodle, Tech Deck, Hatch ...
of
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
An Etch A Sketch has a thick, flat gray screen in a red plastic frame. There are two white knobs on the front of the frame in the lower corners. Twisting the knobs moves a
stylus
A stylus (plural styli or styluses) is a writing utensil or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example, in pottery. It can also be a computer accessory that is used to assist in navigating or providing more precision w ...
that displaces aluminum powder on the back of the screen, leaving a solid line. The knobs create
lineographic images. The left control moves the stylus horizontally, and the right one moves it vertically.
The Etch A Sketch was introduced near the peak of the
Baby Boom
A baby boom is a period marked by a significant increase of birth rate. This demographic phenomenon is usually ascribed within certain geographical bounds of defined national and cultural populations. People born during these periods are often ca ...
on 12 July 1960 for $2.99 ().
It went on to sell 600,000 units
that year and is one of the best known toys of that era. In 1998, it was inducted into the
National Toy Hall of Fame
The National Toy Hall of Fame is a U.S. hall of fame that recognizes the contributions of toys and games that have sustained their popularity for many years. Criteria for induction include: icon status (the toy is widely recognized, respected, an ...
at
The Strong
The Strong is an interactive, collections-based educational institution in Rochester, New York, United States, devoted to the study and exploration of play. It carries out this mission through six programmatic arms called "Play Partners":
* Nat ...
, in
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
. In 2003, the
Toy Industry Association
The Toy Association is an American trade association
A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a s ...
named Etch A Sketch one of the 100 most memorable toys of the 20th century. The Etch A Sketch has since sold over 100 million units worldwide.
Mechanics
![Etchasketch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Etchasketch.jpg)
The toy is a kind of
plotter
A plotter is a machine that produces vector graphics drawings. Plotters draw lines on paper using a pen, or in some applications, use a knife to cut a material like vinyl or leather. In the latter case, they are sometimes known as a cutting pl ...
. The inside surface of the glass screen is coated with
aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
powder, which is then scraped off by a movable stylus, leaving a dark line on the light gray screen. The stylus is controlled by the two large knobs, one of which moves it vertically and the other horizontally. Turning both knobs simultaneously makes diagonal lines. To erase the picture, the user turns the toy upside down and shakes it. Doing this causes
polystyrene
Polystyrene (PS) is a synthetic polymer made from monomers of the aromatic hydrocarbon styrene. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It is a ...
beads to smooth out and re-coat the inside surface of the screen with aluminum powder. The "black" line merely exposes the darkness inside the toy. Scraping out large "black" areas allows enough light through to expose parts of the interior.
History
The Etch A Sketch toy was invented in the late 1950s by
André Cassagnes,
an electrician with Lincrusta Co, who named the toy ''L'Écran Magique'' (The Magic Screen).
In 1959, he took his drawing toy to the International Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Germany.
The Ohio Art Company
The Ohio Art Company is an American toy manufacturing company founded in 1908. Based in Bryan, Ohio, the company is principally engaged in two lines of business. The first line of business is the sales, marketing, and distribution of toys. The s ...
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.
Originally, the toy used a plate glass screen, which was criticized by safety advocates for being easily broken and a danger to children. In November 1970,
Consumers Union
A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. T ...
filed a petition with the
Department of Health, Education and Welfare
The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...
, asking for emergency action under the 1969 Child Protection and Toy Safety Act. The
Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...
responded that the toy had been redesigned, replacing the glass plate with plastic.
The Etch A Sketch toy was featured in the 1995
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
/
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...
animated film ''
Toy Story
''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American computer-animated comedy film directed by John Lasseter (in his feature directorial debut), produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The first installment in the '' Toy Story ...
'', in a scene where a sentient one performs a "quick draw" duel with
Sheriff Woody
Sheriff Woody Pride is a fictional, pull-string cowboy doll who appears in the Disney–Pixar ''Toy Story'' franchise. In the films, Woody is the main protagonist, alongside Buzz Lightyear. He is primarily voiced by Tom Hanks, who voices him ...
. This 12-second feature had been enough to give a significant sales boost, requiring the production line to work overtime to meet demand. By 1999, the company had again fallen into severe financial trouble from canceled orders of various products, reaching a point where the solvency of the company was in question. However, the company recovered with the prudent decision to agree to again have an Etch A Sketch appear in an animated feature film – this time in 1999
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
''
Toy Story 2
''Toy Story 2'' is a 1999 American computer-animated film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The second installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' franchise and the sequel to ''Toy Story'' (1995), it wa ...
''. This scene featured an Etch A Sketch being used to present sketches related to the investigation of Sheriff Woody's kidnapping by
Al McWhiggin
This is a list of characters from Disney/Pixar's ''Toy Story'' franchise which consists of the animated films ''Toy Story'' (1995), ''Toy Story 2'' (1999), ''Toy Story 3'' (2010) and ''Toy Story 4'' (2019), and ''Lightyear'' (2022). This list also ...
the toy collector and the owner of Al's Toy Barn. At 45 seconds, the scene in question was much longer than the scene in the original movie. The exposure from the highly successful
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...
movie resulted in sales of the toy increasing by 20 percent and ensured the survival of the company.
Etch A Sketch was manufactured in
Bryan, Ohio
Bryan is a city in, and the county seat of, Williams County, Ohio, United States. It is located in the state's northwestern corner, southwest of Toledo. The population was 8,729 at the 2020 census.
History
Bryan was platted in 1840 by John ...
until the company moved the manufacturing plant to
Shenzhen, China
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major Sub-provincial division, sub-provincial city and one of the Special economic zones of China, special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pea ...
in 2001.
In France, its country of origin, Etch A Sketch was sold under the name of "Télécran", rather than ''L'Écran Magique''.
In February 2016, the rights to the Etch A Sketch name and design were acquired by
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
-based Spin Master Corporation.
Etch A Sketch Animator
![Etch-A-Sketch Animator](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Etch-A-Sketch_Animator.jpg)
The Etch A Sketch Animator (known simply as "The Animator" in Canada and Europe), debuted in 1986,
and featured a 40x30
dot matrix
A dot matrix is a 2-dimensional patterned array, used to represent characters, symbols and images. Most types of modern technology use dot matrices for display of information, including mobile phones, televisions, and printers. The system is al ...
display and used two knobs for drawing, like a regular Etch A Sketch, with several buttons to manipulate the drawings. The initial price was . It had two
kilobyte
The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information.
The International System of Units (SI) defines the prefix ''kilo'' as 1000 (103); per this definition, one kilobyte is 1000 bytes.International Standard IEC 80000-13 Quantiti ...
s of memory, capable of storing 12 frames of pictures in any combination up to 96 times. It contained a speaker, which made static-like sounds when the knobs were moved and during animations.
Etch A Sketch Animator 2000
![A cartridge for an Etch A Sketch Animator 2000](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/A_cartridge_for_an_Etch_A_Sketch_Animator_2000.jpg)
With the return of the home video game market in the mid 80s and the relative success of the Etch A Sketch Animator, Ohio Art decided to release a high-tech sequel to the Animator, known as the Animator 2000. Ohio Art released the system in 1987, at a suggested retail price of . The unit itself doesn't resemble a traditional Etch A Sketch at all: The classic knobs are replaced with "The Magic Touchpad", the system's form-factor resembles a laptop computer, and the unit features a large 6040 LCD screen. The unit contains 196KB of "powerful computer memory" which is a significant upgrade over the roughly 2KB of the original Animator. This memory upgrade allowed the system to have 22 frames in which to store drawings, and these frames could be animated in sequence up to 99 times. This memory upgrade combined with the relatively powerful custom processor was also important since the Animator 2000 was designed to be a portable entertainment/games system instead of simply an electronic drawing toy. The unit features a cartridge slot, and four cartridges were available: "Fly By", a flight simulator game; "Overdrive", a road racing game; "Putt-Nuts", a miniature golf game; and "Memory", a memory expansion cartridge. The price for one cartridge was .
Etch A Sketch Color
In 1993, Ohio launched a color Etch A Sketch.
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.
Etch A Sketch ETO – Plug and Play Drawing System / Etch A Sketch Wired
These are basically hand-held controllers that connect to a television-like
handheld TV game
A handheld TV game or plug and play game is an integrated home video game console and game controller, usually battery powered, which connects directly to a television. The game software is built directly into the unit, which is typically designe ...
s and work like a regular Etch A Sketch, except on the television screen and with the addition of colors and sound effects.
Etch A Sketch art
There are a few practicing artists who use the Etch A Sketch to produce professional lineographic work. The artists make their work permanent by removing the aluminum powder. This is done either by drilling holes in the bottom of the toy or by removing the entire plastic backing. It is then resealed as a permanent, shake-resistant piece of art.
See also
*
Magna Doodle Magna Doodle is a Magnetism, magnetic drawing toy, consisting of a drawing board, a magnetic stylus, and a few magnet shapes. Invented in 1974 by Pilot Corporation, over forty million units have been sold to date worldwide, under several brands, pro ...
, a somewhat similar toy using a different principle of operation.
*
Etch-a-sketch gaffe during the 2012 Mitt Romney presidential campaign.
References
External links
Official Ohio Art Company Etch A Sketch website*
Video looking at the chemistry of the Etch-a-Sketch powder inside*{{US patent, 3055113
Art and craft toys
Products introduced in 1960
1960s toys
1970s toys
1980s toys
1990s toys
2000s toys
2010s toys
2020s toys
French inventions