🎨 July 12, 1960 – Etch A Sketch Debuts

Near the peak of the baby boom, the Etch A Sketch – a plastic drawing tablet with two white knobs – hit store shelves on July 12, 1960, priced at $2.99. Launched by the Ohio Art Company after being invented in France, the toy became an instant classic. Children (and many adults) were enthralled by how turning the knobs could “magically” draw pictures on the grey screen and then, with a shake, erase and reset for a new drawing. By the end of 1960, some 600,000 Etch A Sketch units had sold, and it was the hottest toy of the holiday season.

Etch A Sketch’s popularity has hardly waned – it has remained in production for decades and is now a nostalgic icon of childhood for multiple generations. It was one of the first toys advertised on television, which helped propel its fame nationally. The toy also demonstrated clever mechanical engineering: inside, a stylus scraping against aluminum powder created the line drawings. Over the years it made countless cameo appearances in movies and TV (including a memorable role in Toy Story). All in all, the Etch A Sketch’s introduction in summer 1960 sketched out a lasting legacy in the toy industry.

Interesting Fact: The inventor of Etch A Sketch, André Cassagnes, was a French electrician who originally named it “L’Écran Magique” (The Magic Screen). Ohio Art bought his idea, anglicized the name, and the rest is history – more than 175 million Etch A Sketches have been sold worldwide since that July 1960 debut