What was the name of the toy introduced in 1964 that used a handheld drawing screen you could erase by shaking?
Etch A Sketch
The answer was Etch A Sketch. Here's the why, the decoys, and the source trail.
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The Etch A Sketch was invented by French electrician André Cassagnes and introduced to the U.S. market by Ohio Art Company in 1960. Its iconic red frame, two white knobs, and shake-to-erase screen made it one of the best-selling toys of the 20th century.
This answer is checked against Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
A good trivia question makes the wrong answers feel close. Here is the clean read on the set.
- Spirograph - a decoy; it may live near the same topic, but it does not answer this exact clue.
- Etch A Sketch - correct answer.
- Magna Doodle - a decoy; it may live near the same topic, but it does not answer this exact clue.
- Lite-Brite - a decoy; it may live near the same topic, but it does not answer this exact clue.
Etch A Sketch is the one to remember. The Etch A Sketch was invented by French electrician André Cassagnes and introduced to the U.S. The Etch A Sketch works by scraping aluminum powder off the inside of the screen with a tiny stylus — shaking it redistributes the powder and 'erases' the drawing.
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