Happy Belated Birthday Etch-a-Sketch!
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (118425)
Gainesville, Florida
July 13, 2016 6:45am CST
In all my excitement yesterday for the 40th anniversary of one of my favorite game shows of all time (Family Feud), I completely forgot that yesterday was also the 56th birthday of everyone's favorite childhood toy, the Etch-a-Sketch!
So Etch-a-Sketch, Happy Belated Birthday!
I remember as a child sitting for hours playing with my Etch-a-Sketch, creating one masterpiece after another, or at least trying to! Remember how much fun it was to shake the Etch-a-Sketch and erase everything on the screen? All us neighborhood kids would get together and take turns creating the funny, outrageous and often illegible art on the Etch-a-Sketch.
I even remember as a teenager using it a few times to write notes to my mom or dad in the morning when I went to school, letting them know if I had basketball practice or a shift at my part-time job.
My own children even had an Etch-a-Sketch when they were little, although I think they preferred computers and electronics over the toy!
Did you have an Etch-a-Sketch when you were a child?
31 people like this
29 responses
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
13 Jul 16
I had an Etch-a=Sketch when I was a kid and wore the thing out. Do they even still produce them in this tech age?
7 people like this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
13 Jul 16
Believe it or not, they do still make them! Their popularity surged again when the Pixar Toy Story movies were released, as Buzz and Woody used an Etch-a-Sketch to help them in their adventures!
5 people like this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jul 16
@pgiblett I was at Wal-Mart this weekend and saw them for sale in the toy department.
@pgiblett (6524)
• Canada
14 Jul 16
@moffittjc Seeing others having the Etch-a-Sketch made me think of the need for a tablet computer in the 80s when I started working in the IT industry.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jul 16
@pgiblett I had a blackboard as well when I was really little. In the days before I got an Etch-a-Sketch!
2 people like this
@Marcyaz (35316)
• United States
14 Jul 16
@moffittjc
That is good to know I haven't seen any in years but of course it was not something I was looking for.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jul 16
The Etch-a-Sketches are still around, but they're not always easy to find. I happened to see some in our local Wal-Mart recently, but it was the first time I've seen them there in a long while.
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jul 16
@Marcyaz Watch...now that we've been talking about it, you'll probably see them all over the place now! lol
1 person likes this
@pgiblett (6524)
• Canada
14 Jul 16
@moffittjc I only had one friend who had one.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jul 16
I think growing up, every kid in my neighborhood had one!
@LadyDuck (457918)
• Switzerland
14 Jul 16
@moffittjc Really? May be because it was part of your child memories. I have seen (and tried) them in shops, but I did not consider it so interesting.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jul 16
You can never be too old for an Etch-a-Sketch! Even adults have fun playing with them!
4 people like this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jul 16
@LadyDuck Yes, maybe it's the sense of nostalgia that makes them still fun for me to play with as an adult.
2 people like this
@JamesHxstatic (29242)
• Eugene, Oregon
13 Jul 16
I am soooo old that we wrote messages with charred wood on the cave walls when I was a kid, but my daughter, born in 1988 definitely had an Etch-a-Sketch.
5 people like this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jul 16
I'm so old that the charred wood you used to write on the cave walls was still just a sapling growing in a field! lol
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29242)
• Eugene, Oregon
13 Jul 16
@jstory07 Hard to believe, I know...
2 people like this
@allen0187 (58438)
• Philippines
14 Nov 16
Wore out my Etch-a-Sketch when i had one.
Fun times!
1 person likes this
@allen0187 (58438)
• Philippines
14 Nov 16
@moffittjc loads of fun with an Etch-a-Sketch!
Lego is tops when it comes to my favorite childhood toys and Etch-a-Sketch is a close second.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Nov 16
@allen0187 Lego is my all-time favorite toy! And I still get to enjoy them even today as an adult, because my son plays with them now!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Nov 16
Yes, I think I wore a few out myself when I was a child.
1 person likes this
@Butchcass4 (5895)
• United States
29 Jul 16
Yes I absolutely did and I remember having a ball doing it. Thanks for good memories. Happy belated birthday Etch-a-sketch.
1 person likes this
@Butchcass4 (5895)
• United States
30 Jul 16
@moffittjc I loved it as a kid but now that I'm a Christian I won't mess around with things like that and the ouja board or horoscopes anything that would be offensive to the Lord I stay away from now. You may think I'm crazy but I try very hard to make good choices that the Lord will be pleased with me for doing. What for the sake of entertainment, not! I have a card game I play and I've been wanting to get a patent on it because nobody ever has and its one of the most aggressive games I've played. It's call "Dizzy". Have you ever heard of it?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
29 Jul 16
It's always nice when we come across toys these days that can take us back to fond memories of our childhood! My boss just brought a Magic 8-Ball to work that she sets out on her conference table so we can play with it during staff meetings. I used to love the Magic 8-Ball when I was a kid!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
30 Jul 16
@Butchcass4 I've never heard of Dizzy! Can you describe it?
1 person likes this
@Jessicalynnt (50525)
• Centralia, Missouri
13 Jul 16
had one, seen some great art done on one, my stuff always looked dumb!
2 people like this
@Jessicalynnt (50525)
• Centralia, Missouri
15 Jul 16
@moffittjc you couldnt even tell what mine were! lol
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jul 16
Some people have created some amazing art on Etch-a-Sketches! I love the talent some people have. I'm like you, my creations always left a lot to be desired.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 Jul 16
@Jessicalynnt I'll admit, many of my "drawings" were pretty abstract as well! But it was fun to sit down and just start turning the knobs without any real plan in mind and just seeing where your creativity took you! I ended up with some pretty cool designs that were actually nothing like what I had originally set out to draw! lol
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
14 Jul 16
Yes, and I bought them for my grandsons too. They loved them.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jul 16
You can imagine the joy on my face when my kids were little and I came across an Etch-a-Sketch in the store! I don't know if I was more excited to get the toy for them, or for me to play with! But I was just glad they still made them!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jul 16
@ElizabethWallace I love how people become nostalgic for old games or toys, and next thing you know they are back in style or are the latest fad/craze/sensation! Funny how things cycle back into style!
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
14 Jul 16
@moffittjc Lots of old toys are still being made. I bought many at Restoration Hardware store just before Christmas each year.
1 person likes this
@Poppylicious (11133)
•
13 Jul 16
I had one ... it used to excite and frustrate me in equal measure!
3 people like this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jul 16
Now that you mention it, I think it did the same for me! It was so exciting to create crazy designs on the Etch-a-Sketch, but so frustrating when you messed up, or your design didn't turn out quite like you had envisioned.
@VivaLaDani13 (60311)
• Perth, Australia
11 Aug 16
@moffittjc aw man I had one! I wonder where it went. 
I used to play with it for hours and hours sometimes trying to draw things that was ALWAYS BLOODY SQUARE! lol Still fun though.
I used to play with it for hours and hours sometimes trying to draw things that was ALWAYS BLOODY SQUARE! lol Still fun though.1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Aug 16
If I had one right now, I would probably be spending hours playing with it instead of being on my laptop! lol
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Aug 16
@VivaLaDani13 Could you imagine being a great artist and creating an amazing work of art on the Etch-a-Sketch, and then right at the end when you're just about finished, you make a mistake that ruins your entire picture? That would suck balls to have that happen!
1 person likes this
@VivaLaDani13 (60311)
• Perth, Australia
11 Aug 16
@moffittjc lol I would do the same. Although the only thing about it is if you make a little mistake when trying to draw something, you can't erase that little part muhahahaha have to shake to erase the whole picture you were drawing! 
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jul 16
Definitely brings back fun childhood memories for me!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jul 16
If you ever see or find one somewhere, try it out...you'll have so much fun playing with it!
@ModernDayWriter (3318)
• New Delhi, India
14 Jul 16
@moffittjc may be after marriage I will play with it with my children 
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
14 Jul 16
I never possessed one, which is probably a good thing because I would have been quite hopeless trying to draw with it. However, I do remember them being introduced because there was someone at the local toy store demonstrating one by drawing a horse.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
14 Jul 16
@moffittjc I know exactly what you mean, but of course the company choose the right people to demonstrate such items and the result was excellent.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jul 16
I think that's what made them so addictive to play with, the fact that people would spend hours trying to perfect their drawing skills. I definitely don't have very good artistic skills, and so my drawings were very crude and elementary at best. If I was the salesman demonstrating the product by having to stand in front of a crowd and draw a horse, I could tell you I probably wouldn't sell very many of those things!
1 person likes this
@Carmelanirel2 (8084)
• United States
25 Nov 16
Yes, I had an etch-a-sketch and made sure my children did too and I still played with it.. 
1 person likes this
@Carmelanirel2 (8084)
• United States
28 Nov 16
@moffittjc I wouldn't be surprised, they are fun!!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Nov 16
I remember when I bought an Etch-a-Sketch for my children when they were little...I think I played with it more than they did! lol
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Nov 16
@Carmelanirel2 There are so many toys that I bought my kids that I probably played with more than them! lol
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137145)
• United States
13 Jul 16
We had a mud tablet we pressed our words into using a cypress "wand". Of course, the mud would often "heal" itself before anyone got to read it, but at least we tried! LOL!
Yeah, Etch-a-Sketch was a fun toy for my daughter, though.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137145)
• United States
16 Jul 16
@moffittjc Older or younger brothers/cousins?
It would have been better if you got one of them to try the mud burger, Jeff! 
It wouldn't have seemed so silly and you'd have bragging rights for life!
It wouldn't have seemed so silly and you'd have bragging rights for life!1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
17 Jul 16
@DaddyEvil I am the oldest of all my siblings and cousins! I'm pretty sure one of us probably did try to eat a mud burger at some point in our childhood. I can say for sure I remember eating a spoonful of sand once when I was little, and my brother used to eat all the leaves off of one of the shrubs in our front yard. Wow...typing this out made me realize I have a very weird family! LOL
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jul 16
That reminds me of my brother and cousins when we were little. We had a lake behind our house, and we would go down to the shore and dig up big piles of mud and we would make "mud burgers" and pretend we were cooks in a restaurant! lol The silly things we do as kids!
1 person likes this
@akalinus (40440)
• United States
14 Jul 16
@moffittjc I found out that it is hard to be a great artist on an etch-a-sketch!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jul 16
@akalinus Yes, it is! But some people are absolute geniuses on those things! I've seen some pretty amazing Etch-a-Sketch art in my time!
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jul 16
Those are so much fun, I wouldn't necessarily say you wasted your time! lol
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Jul 16
I've seen those little keychain ones, but I've never actually tried playing with one! They look too small for me to try to maneuver those tiny little knobs with my big hands!
1 person likes this
@rina110383 (24495)
•
14 Jul 16
My parents bought us siblings one when we were kids. That was a fun. It trained us in writing.
1 person likes this
@akalinus (40440)
• United States
15 Jul 16
@moffittjc My best friend told me that her grandchildren can't even sign their own names. That makes me said.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 Jul 16
@akalinus My daughter, who's 16 now, learned cursive in school. My son, who's 13, didn't learn cursive in school. He can't write in cursive at all, but my daughter worked with him to teach him how to sign his name. Pretty sad that kids these days can't even sign their names!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118425)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jul 16
I remember practicing my cursive writing on my Etch-a-Sketch! Did you know that a lot of schools don't even teach cursive writing anymore these days? Such a shame!
1 person likes this
