Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Paris, Île-de-France, France
About André Cassagnes
- André Cassagnes (September 23, 1926 – January 16, 2013) was a French inventor, electrical technician, toymaker, and kite designer.
- Cassagnes is best known as the inventor of the Etch A Sketch, a popular mechanical drawing toy manufactured since 2016 by Spin Master, formerly by the Ohio Art Company.Cassagnes was born outside Paris, France, on September 23, 1926.
- His parents owned and operated a bakery, where he worked as a teenager.
- An allergy to flour forced him to seek another line of work, and he became an electrician for the Lincrusta Company, a French manufacturer which produced picture frame covers using an aluminum powder.In one instance, Cassagnes was performing a routine installation of a factory light switch plate.
- The plate was wrapped in a translucent decal covering.
- During the installation, Cassagnes removed the decal and wrote on it with a pencil.
- He quickly noticed that image transferred to the opposite face of the decal.
- Cassagnes tinkered with his discovery, which led to the world's first prototype of the Etch A Sketch.
- He called his invention L'Ecran Magique, which is translated as "the Magic Screen." The toy was first unveiled in 1959 at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in Nuremberg, West Germany.
- Cassagnes later partnered with the American manufacturer Ohio Art Company to further develop the Etch a Sketch into its familiar form.
- The Ohio Art Company launched the Etch a Sketch in the United States during the 1960 holiday season.Cassagnes was also a well known kite designer and inventor in France.
- This was his main occupation but remained a hobby; he specialized in the creation of original modular kites throughout the 1980s.
- A 1992 article in Kite Lines magazine described him then as "the most famous kitemaker in France." He also invented several mechanical games: the Teleguide, which guides metal cars onto a track; and the SkeDoodle, a conceptual toy in which users draw images onto a globe-shaped screen.Cassagnes died in a suburb of Paris on January 16, 2013, at the age of 86, according to a report from the Toy Industry Association (TIA).
- He lived with his wife, Renée, and their three children.
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