Cassagnes, who passed away at the age of 86 on Jan. While installing a factory light switch plate, he peeled off its translucent decal and made some pencil marks on it. Sometime around 1955 or 1956, a 30-something Andre Cassagnes was working as an electrician for a company called Lincrusta in Vitry-Sur-Seine, France. It's no surprise that the Etch A Sketch was born out of curiosity. Then they say, 'Wow, I want to try and do that.' " "We like to say Etch A Sketch, you know, it's easy to play with, but it's not easy to master, so I think that's a clear reason why it's thrived for 55 years, it's that kids will play with it, and they see things that Etch A Sketch inventors do with it, creating the Mona Lisa, just doing beautiful artwork. People say, 'Wow, how does it do that?'," said Killgallon in an interview with T-Lounge. "Even today in this high-tech world, there's something - even though it's low-tech - magical about Etch A Sketch. Though the Etch A Sketch may still not have the countless capabilities of the devices that make their way into kids' hands today, it's the simple fact that you can't quite figure out what's going on behind that gray screen that has continued to captivate the young and the old for decades, according to Martin Killgallon, the president of the Ohio Art Company, which has manufactured the Etch A Sketch for the U.S. You have to admit it's pretty impressive that a toy that can't connect to Wi-Fi, doesn't have Bluetooth capabilities - heck, doesn't even have batteries - continues to be iconic and have relevance today, especially when children are increasingly putting down toys and picking up video game controllers. This gaffe was then mocked by everyone from Stephen Colbert to fellow Republican nominee hopefuls Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. Eric Fehrnstrom, Mitt Romney's senior campaign adviser, used the Etch A Sketch as an analogy that seemed to suggest that the then-hopeful Republican nominee would transition from a conservative to a more moderate stance on issues once he achieved the nomination. It even played a role in the 2012 presidential election. It has appeared in a number of movies and TV shows, such as the Toy Story movies, Elf and a recent episode of Pretty Little Liars. It was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, N.Y., in 1998 and was included in the Toy Industry Association's "Century of Toys" list in 2003. It has sold more than 175 million units worldwide since it hit stores on July 12, 1960. That's probably because the Etch A Sketch has done a lot in its little more than half-a-century lifespan. It seems like the classic red-framed drawing toy has been around forever. It's hard to believe the Etch A Sketch is only 55 years old.
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