A Magic Screen: Etch A Sketch
Unlimited Design Possibilities - Just Shake to Erase
To bad life isn't like an Etch A Sketch. We could draw it like we wanted. If we made a mistake, we could shake it out.
Still A Better Toy
The Etch A Sketch seems a simple toy. It has no batteries, no moving parts besides two knobs, no color besides a vivid red frame, it is almost indestructible, and it can be frustrating to boot. My oldest child begged me for at least half a year for an Etch A Sketch. When she got one, it became one of her prized possessions and the source of fights between her and her little sister. When our nephew came to visit, it won out over his beloved Superman™ computer as the toy to take on drives.
Persistence
The Etch A Sketch was created by Arthur Grandjean, a garage mechanic who owned a tool shop near Paris. It seems he signed an agreement with his boss Paul Chaze that stated that anything the employee invented was the employer’s property. Grandjean’s employer, Paul Chaze felt certain that this toy, originally called ‘Magic Screen’ would be a winner so he took it to the International Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Germany in 1959. There the toy was passed over by toy manufacturers because Chaze was asking $100,000 for the rights to the game. In the late 50’s early 60’s that sum was a small fortune.
Chaze then decided to take his toy to America and hired an American agent to arrange a tour for him. The agent called Ohio Art and spoke to the director of development William Casley Killgallon. Killgallon was intrigued and went to New York to see the toy himself. He liked what he saw and called the company’s president Howard Winzeler. Winzelar listened to Killgallon and said, “I saw that at Nuremberg.”
Winzelar felt that since he and his director of development had seen this toy on opposites sides of the world and both liked it they should reconsider. They reviewed the toy together and Killgallon convinced Chaze to accept an advance of $25,000 plus royalties. The contract was worth millions.
A Complicated Toy
While on the surface the Etch A Sketch seems simple, in reality, it is a complex toy. The material that is etched away from the screen is a combination of aluminum powder and beads. Aluminum powder sticks to everything. A few shakes to generate static electricity and the screen is coated with gray material.
The knobs that create the image are connected to a stylus mounted on orthogonal rails. The knobs manipulate the rails through a system of pulleys threaded with nylon string. One knob controls the horizontal and the other the vertical. Move a knob or the pair in tandem and the pulleys cause the rails to move and the stylus erases a line on the screen.
Manufacturing such a complicated toy was not easy. But by July of 1960, production hit full swing.
Successful Advertising
The first ad campaign for the Etch A Sketch appealed to both children and parents. It was cute to boot. A little girl named Pernella was forced to hide under a basket with her Etch A Sketch because everyone wanted to play with it. When she emerged from her hide out she announces, “It’s magic! I am not using pencils or crayons or chalk...and look! No mess!” Instant success.
Ohio art had difficulty filling its Christmas orders that year and production ran until noon on Christmas Eve in order to get shipments out to West Coast Stores by Christmas morning.
Can Anyone Really Draw With It?
Most people can manage simple geometric drawings with an Etch A Sketch. A truly talented person can manage a full circle. Miracle Workers like Nicole Falzone can paint realistic portraits of people from Einstein to John Lennon. When her drawings are complete, she drills a hole in the back of the Etch A Sketch, carefully drains out the powder to preserve the existing image and has a self-framing piece of art.
A 1970’s ad called the Etch A Sketch “...one of the nicest childhood memories anyone can have.” Apparently, the people at the National Toy Hall of Fame did and perhaps it is.
Sources
Walsh, Tim. Timeless Toys: Classic Toys and the Playmakers Who Created Them. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2005.
