It doesn't look a day over 40...

On July 12, 1960, the first Etch-a-Sketch went on sale!

"How Stuff Works" has an explanation of the magic that he created from simple aluminum powder and beads.

The technology behind this children's toy is both simple and complex. Simple, in that an internal stylus is used, manipulated by turning horizontal and vertical knobs to "etch a sketch" onto a glass window coated with aluminum powder.

Complex, because the Etch a Sketch employs a fairly sophisticated pulley system that operates the orthogonal rails that move the stylus around when the knobs are turned. The stylus etches a black line into the powder-coated window to create the drawing.

The Ohio Art Company even has an Etch-a-Sketch that you can play with online! (Use your arrow keys) Here's my lame attempt at writing my name...



Happy Birthday, Etch-a-Sketch!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I see London, I see France...

Image
Saturday, June 3: Landed in London on Saturday with only 2 hrs of sleep on the plane... which is what happens when you're seated right next to the restroom. Sigh. We dropped our stuff in the apartment and went to lunch with the parents, and then we went off to find the Polish museum - only open the first Saturday of the month. Of course, we went to the wrong tube stop and had to hike a million miles... The Polish gentleman who was the tour guide was a survivor of WWII, I think. He knew everything - and assumed that we knew nothing, especially about WWII, which is not a good assumption to make with our family. Anyway, John and I were totally exhausted after the museum, so we went back to the flat for a while. The 'rents had theater tickets, so John and I stumbled out to find dinner in the rain and ended up having burgers at GBK  in Earl's Court. I think the maitre'd was American. This was the start of my string of bunless burgers (gluten-free was hard to find) on this ...
Read more

Ciao, Italia!

Image
Eating our homemade pasta at the Villa Third time's the charm, right? After two failed attempts to get to Italy (IXPUG Meeting in 2018, foiled by a Nor'easter, and May 2020 foiled by COVID) , we finally made it!  Friday, May 20: We were not the only ones in the airport with masks, but definitely in the minority. The flight to Dulles was uneventful, but the C and D gates at IAD were *packed*. Lots of school kids going to Europe.  We had the middle and window seats in the middle of the plane, but not in Premium Economy (which apparently didn't hold over from our tickets purchased 2 years ago). Ugh. The guy on the aisle was a fidgeter. And there were so many little kids on the plane! I felt bad - one of them cried for his mommy for about three straight hours. But I was also super grateful for my earplugs and eyeshades. The gluten-free food on the plane was HORRIBLE, btw. Do not recommend.  Saturday, May 21 I will say, when we arrived, it was the fastest passport check ever -...
Read more

Let the craziness begin!

The family is starting its travel madness early this year... we're all boarding planes for the other side of the pond around the same time today. Mom & Dad on BA, Bryan on Virgin, and me on AA. It's almost 9 hours from Dallas to London.... bleh. I brought some SimplySleep, so hopefully I'll nod off pretty soon. I also brought a pair of socks that have been languishing in my project bag for six months or so ( Diamante socks, from knitty, in Fleece Artist, 100% Merino, bronze colorway) I stopped at a sock-and-a-half, though it looks like I have enough yarn left to make more. One good thing: The Dallas airport D Gate area has a nice little charge station, so my laptop can charge and I can sit on a stool and not huddle on the floor near an outlet like I've had to do at the A gates. So I'm actually getting some work done. Haven't been to London in 3 years! It was about 10-15 degrees colder last time I was there (it was a month later), too, so I'm hoping ...
Read more