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If you are like most people, the best thing you can draw on an Etch A Sketch is a staircase- not a personal portrait or a rendition of a popular painting. The popular Etch A Sketch is a beloved toy that both intrigues and frustrates its users. The challenge to create a picture by turning two knobs can keep you busy for hours. If you really mess up your design, you’ll have to shake it clean so you can start all over again. What exactly gets shaken up, you ask?
Inside each Etch A Sketch is a bunch of aluminum powder which sticks to the screen. The knobs move a little stylus which displaces the aluminum powder on the screen to reveal dark lines. When the Etch A Sketch is shaken, the beads of aluminum powder redistribute themselves evenly over the screen leaving a clean drawing board.
The Etch A Sketch was developed in the late 1950’s by Andre Cassagnes, a French electrician. According to the Ohio Art Company website ,this original invention was called the “Telecran.” Henry Simon Winzeler, founder of Ohio Art Company, discovered the Telecran and put Cassagnes in touch with Jerry Burger, Chief Engineer at Ohio Art Company. Together they perfected what we now call the Etch A Sketch.
The name never made much sense until I figured out how the toy works. Now that I know that the stylus is etching through the aluminum powder on the inside of the screen, the name makes perfect sense!
By: Jessica McGrail