Arthur Granjean invented Etch-a-sketch in the late 1950s.[1] Granjean displayed his prototype, which he had built in his basement and called "L'Ecran Magique" ("The Magic Screen"), at the 1959 International Toy Exhibition. There, executives of the Ohio Art Company acquired the rights to produce it commercially.
The classically simple, lineographic, Etch-a-Sketch, which debuted during the Christmas shopping season of 1960, near the peak of the baby boom, is one of the best-known toys of a generation and remains popular today.
The Etch a Sketch is filled with a fine aluminum dust and a sylus than scrapes the dust which leaves the mark you see. When you shake it to erase more aluminum dust replaces it.