Etch A Sketch

My first response to the Romney campaign Etch A Sketch gaffe was to start wondering about the iconic product itself.

From Wikipedia I learned that it was invented in the late 50's by André Cassagnes, a french inventor who shopped it around at toy trade shows. It's produced by Ohio Art Company, a relatively small company that does custom metal lithography products. It was made in Ohio until 2001, at which point it was of course outsourced to China.

Still, it's a product with a refreshing old-school quality. No brand tie-ins, no hollywood movie characters, no social networking. It shows that an idea can survive without keeping up with the relentless progress of our times.