Andre Cassagnes was an electrical technician in the 1950's when he stumbled upon the Etch A Sketch idea. When he peeled a translucent decal from a light switch plate, he found that pencil mark images were transferred to the opposite face.
He created the toy with the gray screen, red frame and two white knobs which were twisted back and forth to create various images. He exhibited his creation at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in 1959 and developed a partnership with the Ohio Art Co based in Bryan, Ohio. The toy became the biggest seller during the 1960 holiday season. Since then, over 100 million have been sold worldwide.
Mr Cassagnes died on January 16, 2013 at the age of 86 in a suburb of Paris.
The toy gained considerable attention during the 2012 Presidential election when one of Mitt Romney's advisers made a reference to it regarding the candidate's political views.
The toys were made in Ohio until 2000 before the firm moved their production to China.
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