I didn’t know him personally but when André Cassagnes died recently at the age of 86, I felt a little sad and nostalgic.
M. Cassagnes invented the Etch A Sketch. This simple, classic toy was a creative part of many childhoods and can still hold its own in today’s high tech toy box.
It was both easy and difficult to use. If you drew straight, horizontal or vertical lines there was no problem. Boxes were easy.
Diagonal lines were tougher and curves were nearly impossible. Triangles and circles were out of the question. Still, it was fun to twirl those white knobs.
I faced two personal Etch A Sketch challenges. First, I wanted to write my signature on that pale grey screen. My name had lots of curvy letters and was very challenging.
My second quest was to slowly and methodically remove all the aluminum dust from the screen to expose the inner workings. Unfortunately I didn’t have the patience and that secret remained hidden from my view.
This simple toy succeeded on its own merits. The Etch A Sketch arrived decades before portable phones and other hand-held devices. There were no Apps or Internet. This lap top device pre-dates Pong.
That didn’t stop the kids in my neighborhood from exploring the limits of two-dimensional geometry. This toy, combined with an active imagination produced hours of recreational fun.
When I think about the time we spent playing as kids there are some toys and games that stand out. Most were simple and fun to play with.
And although we didn’t realize it at the time, they were often educational and secretly taught us stuff..
Board games were popular. We learned high finance from Monopoly, spelling from Scrabble and discovered how to solve mysteries by playing Clue.
We learned about the job market from a game called Careers. If I remember correctly, the big money was in uranium mining and moon exploration. Unfortunately those career choices also had serious health and safety concerns.
The toys we played with were a lot less complicated but goofing around and playing with them allowed us to discover new skills and knowledge. Playing has always been a good way to learn.
There is a lot of nostalgia for those old toys and games. Now that baby boomers are grandparents they are eager to share their own childhood toy box memories.
We used to play Pick Up Sticks. You took a bunch of sticks, dropped them on the table and then tried to pick them up without disturbing the pile. You needed a steady hand and nerves of steel.
Future surgeons excelled at the game of Operation. Successfully removing the bread basket or wishbone might indicate a promising career in medicine.
How many students enrolled in LU’s medical school got started by tweezing the spare ribs or funnybone from Cavity Sam.
For engineers there were Tinker Toys, Lego and Erector sets. The artists preferred Lite Brite, Spirograph and View Masters. For the nerds there was Rubik’s Cube.
We played with Slinky, Mr. Potato Head, Hot Wheels and Hula Hoops. We used friction toys, wind-up toys and Tiddly Winks. And then there was Etch A Sketch.
André Cassagnes’ creation may not be the greatest invention ever but it was a toy whose time had come. It was released at the height of the baby boom.
Over 100 million have been sold so far. Some originals are still kicking around. It has never been declared dangerous, hazardous or evil. If I had one now I would still play with it.
That’s quite a legacy for one French technician.
