In an era when tablets and smartphones were not a thing, children mostly entertained themselves and honed their imaginative skills through toys.
Most of you reading this article probably played with dolls or action figures that allow you to play certain scenarios you thought of out of the blue.
However, other kids may or may not have honed their imagination through an Etch a Sketch, which is a cost-effective toy that allows you to draw whatever you want, but without the permanence of a paper and pencil.
But for the imaginative kid, the ability to draw whatever without wasting paper is more than enough.
Here are some fun trivia that you not know about the toy:
An Electrician Invented It
Etch a Sketch is one of many toys that hail from accidental reasons. The toy was invented during the 1950s by Andre Cassagnes, a French electrician, per Mental Floss.
The story is that Cassagnes was installing a light fixture in a factory when he realized that the pencil marks he made kept appearing on the other side of a light-switch plate's translucent protective decal, which had aluminum powder.
Apparently, Cassagnes' pencil drew a line through the metallic powder, displacing the particles that were previously stuck to the decals due to an electrostatic charge.
The phenomenon inspired him to create a toy that capitalizes on it, which led to the creation of the first Etch a Sketch.
Etch a Sketch Isn't Its First Name
Although we know the toy as Etch a Sketch, Cassagnes, a Frenchman, naturally gave the toy he created a french name. He eventually chose the name "Télécran" (telescreen) when it was first marketed, according to the Toy Tales.
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However, it was changed to "L'Ecran Magique," or Magic Screen because its appearance is similar to a TV screen.
The Ohio Art Company eventually bought the license to the toy and renamed it Etch a Sketch.
It Had A Joystick
Etch a Sketch has two knobs for you to draw lines with, but Cassagnes designed the toy differently.
When he first invented the toy, he first had a joystick installed for kids to draw with. However, it was eventually replaced by the two knobs we usually see with the toy for unknown reasons.
100 Million Etch a Sketches Have Been Sold In Total
Since its introduction in the 1960s, Etch-a-Sketch has been a hit worldwide due to the endless possibilities one can draw with it.
The toy found its market through a television ad aired on June 12, 1960, which describes the toy's capabilities as "magic;" the toy became an instant hit thanks to the ad.
In 1998, more than 100 million Etch a Sketches had been sold around the world since the 1960s, per CNBC and the AARP.
It's Part Of Pop Culture
To date, Etch a Sketches have left its mark on pop culture through a popular movie and TV series combined.
One Etch a Sketch was featured during the first "Toy Story" film. This toy, called "Etch," described series protagonist Woody as having the "fastest knobs in the West."
A group of Etch-a-Sketches was featured in the TV series "Breaking Bad," wherein protagonist Walter White uses the aluminum powder inside the previously mentioned group of toys to create thermite to melt the look off a door.
