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Stuff You Should Know

SYSK's 12 Days of Christmas… Toys: Etch A Sketch!

12 Dec 2025

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 3.763 Unknown

This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.

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4.435 - 17.328 Stephen Curry

I'm Stephen Curry, and this is Gentleman's Cut. I think what makes Gentleman's Cut different is me being a part of developing the profile of this beautiful finished product. With every sip, you get a little something different.

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17.949 - 37.368 Unknown

Visit Gentleman'sCutBourbon.com for your nearest Total Wines or BevMo. This message is intended for audiences 21 and older. Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, Boone County, Kentucky. For more on Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, please visit Gentleman'sCutBourbon.com. Please enjoy responsibly. Hi, Kyle. Could you draw up a quick document with the basic business plan?

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37.708 - 45.555 Unknown

Just one page as a Google Doc and send me the link. Thanks. Hey, just finished drawing up that quick one page business plan for you. Here's the link.

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46.056 - 64.193 Josh Clark

But there was no link. There was no business plan. I hadn't programmed Kyle to be able to do that yet. I'm Evan Ratliff here with a story of entrepreneurship in the AI age. Listen as I attempt to build a real startup run by fake people. Check out the second season of my podcast, Shell Game, on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

65.118 - 83.019 Unknown

Whether it is getting swatted or just hateful messages online, there is a lot of harm in even just reading the comments. That's cybersecurity expert Camille Stewart Gloucester on the Therapy for Black Girls podcast. Every season is a chance to grow, and the Therapy for Black Girls podcast is here to walk with you.

83.679 - 104.203 Unknown

I'm Dr. Joy Harden-Bradford, and each week we dive into real conversations that help you move with more clarity and confidence. This episode, we're breaking down what really happens to your information online and how to protect yourself with intention. Listen to Therapy for Black Girls on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

106.394 - 126.796 Josh Clark

Hey, everyone. It's time for our episode on Etch-A-Sketch, the little tablet that you could draw on using two dials for some reason. And then when you made a masterpiece, you'd shake it up and start over again. Or if you're a real jerk, you could shake up someone else's masterpiece when they weren't ready to shake it up yet. This is a good one.

127.336 - 132.722 Josh Clark

I guess all of our toy episodes were good ones, so it goes without saying. But it is a good one.

Chapter 2: What is the history of the Etch-A-Sketch?

316.637 - 339.614 Josh Clark

Everybody knows what an Etch-A-Sketch is, unless you go to France, and then they'll say, oh, you mean La Croix Magique. Right. And you might say, like, well, Why would they have anything to say about the Etch-a-Sketch in France? Turns out, buddy, the Etch-a-Sketch is actually French in origin. Did you know that before this? I did not. I didn't either. Because it seems like super American.

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339.775 - 367.36 Josh Clark

You know, it looks like a TV and just feels like pure Americana. So when I realized it had some French stank on it, my dreams were dashed. You're like, it smells like champagne and cheese, which is kind of pleasant. No, I didn't really care. I thought it was great. Sketch, erase, and sketch again. The log line that will forever be tied. to this really interesting little toy.

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367.42 - 385.375 Josh Clark

And I can't remember who it is in this article, but they were interviewing different folks. I think it was someone from the company commented. And I totally agree that it's amazing that today in the digital world and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and video gaming as it is,

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385.355 - 405.493 Josh Clark

That this little lo-fi toy that doesn't even have batteries in it, much less hook up to the Internet, is still like super popular and still has a little bit of mystique. And I agree with him. And I think the reason why one of them is like you look at it and you're still kind of like, how does this thing work? Right.

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406.274 - 419.981 Josh Clark

Well, we're going to ruin that mystique for everybody because we're going to explain how it works, actually, in this episode. That's right. But hopefully it won't affect Etch-a-Sketch sales because we love Etch-a-Sketch, you know? All right. Should we go to France? We will go to France.

420.021 - 442.322 Josh Clark

Sometime, it's apparently not clear whether it was 1955 or 1956, but in a little town called Vitry-sur-Seine, which means Vitry on the Seine River, there was a company called, what was the name of the company, Chuck? Lincrusta Company. Right. Terrible name.

443.063 - 463.33 Josh Clark

It is a terrible name, but the reason they call themselves that is because lincrusta is a type of wall covering that was really popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries. You know, like, have you ever been into an old, creepy, abandoned house, and, like, the walls are covered in what looks like dimpled tin with, like, some weird patterns to it or whatever?

463.35 - 464.552 Unknown

Yeah.

464.954 - 487.43 Josh Clark

No, but keep going. Okay. So if you could rub your hand over it, it's heavily embossed. Okay. Sometimes it's painted. And just imagine that as like wainscoting in the house. That is Lincrusta. And so that is one of the two things that this company made in the 50s, Lincrusta wall coverings and artificial leather.

Chapter 3: How did the Etch-A-Sketch become a cultural icon?

961.617 - 985.396 Josh Clark

And of course, if you want to get that away and start a new picture, you just shake that thing up and that recoats the screen once again with that powder. Yeah. So, like, you know how your TV screen always has tons of dust on it no matter how often you dust it? Sure. So that's because, like, that dust is attracted electrostatically through an electrical charge to the glass.

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985.816 - 1004.94 Josh Clark

They take advantage of that same thing with the underside of the Etch-A-Sketch and that aluminum dust, which sticks to everything. Like, it wants to stick to the glass because they think it's missing some electrons or something. And then when you move the stylus through it, you're just removing that dust, like you said. It's not a negative. It's the removal of dust.

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1005.36 - 1029.794 Josh Clark

And that's an Etch-A-Sketch, like, at its core. And what's interesting, Chuck, is, like, that is how an Etch-A-Sketch today works. That's how an Etch-A-Sketch worked in 1962. Like, the two meaning, like, also. Sure. But that dude, Andre Cassagne, said, this is how this is going to work. And it's basically the same thing. That's pretty awesome. Let's take a break. Yes.

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1029.834 - 1033.521 Josh Clark

We're going to come back and talk about coming stateside right after this.

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1040.314 - 1040.715 Chuck Bryant

We'll be right back.

1042.703 - 1056.201 Stephen Curry

I'm Stephen Curry, and this is Gentleman's Cut. I think what makes Gentleman's Cut different is me being a part of developing the profile of this beautiful finished product. With every sip, you get a little something different.

1056.221 - 1076.784 Unknown

Visit Gentleman'sCutBourbon.com for your nearest Total Wines or BevMo. This message is intended for audiences 21 and older. Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, Boone County, Kentucky. For more on Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, please visit Gentleman'sCutBourbon.com. Please enjoy responsibly. Dad had the strong belief that the devil was attacking us.

1077.444 - 1097.388 Unknown

Two brothers, one devout household, two radically different paths. Gabe Ortiz became one of the highest-ranking law enforcement officers in Texas. 32 years total law enforcement experience. But his brother Larry, he stayed behind and built an entirely different legacy. He was the head of this gang, and nobody was going to tell him what to do.

1097.608 - 1099.05 Chuck Bryant

You're going to push that line for the cause.

Chapter 4: What are the unique features of the Etch-A-Sketch?

1537.161 - 1553.867 Josh Clark

Right, and you could use that to print onto anything, including other metal, right? Well, hey, man, that's where my knowledge, and again, this was ninth grade me, so I've forgotten a lot of things over that time period. Right. And I'm sure I just butchered that, but that's my one little dance with metal lithography.

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1554.083 - 1576.998 Josh Clark

Well, I'll tell you who would be able to tell us exactly how metal lithography works. It's anybody who works at Ohio Art, because not only was that their bread and butter before the Etch-A-Sketch, it still is today, actually. So Ohio Art, I guess, gets in touch with Andre Casson. And either he got in touch with them again or they got in touch with him.

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1577.038 - 1597.022 Josh Clark

I think it was the latter of the two and said, hey, we heard you're selling this for 100 grand. It's way too rich for our blood. How about either 15,000 or 25,000, depending on who you ask in the future? And Kassan is like, what are you talking about? They're like, just take the money. And so they either got it for 15,000 or 25,000, which is still substantial.

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1597.042 - 1619.697 Josh Clark

I mean, it was like around 100K or something. $200,000, something like that, depending on which one it was. And Kassan was quite a happy man. There was a story where the guy who was running the show at Ohio Art and his wife went over to meet Andre Kassan and just kind of have like an initial meeting and like shake his hand and all that and buy the license from him.

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1619.677 - 1642.022 Josh Clark

And Kassan was like, welcome, and had like this huge spread of baguettes and champagne and everything at his house, which is pretty cute. Because he was just like this humble guy who came up with a really great idea for a toy and was finally like selling it for a wad of cash. Interesting. A little on the nose. What, the baguettes and champagne? Yeah, but you know, what are you going to do?

1642.323 - 1663.78 Josh Clark

Went in France, right? So he is, once he's on board with Ohio Art, he gets together with their chief engineer, Jerry Berger, and says, and Berger's like, listen here, Frenchie, you need to drop the joystick. It's all knobs these days. And he said, what is a knob? And he was like, well, let me show you.

1663.82 - 1687.554 Josh Clark

And he introduced the idea of the same system like you were talking about, but knobs instead of a joystick to move that little line horizontal or vertical or, as you pointed out, if you're really talented – And you can master both at once. You can actually do, well, if you're really good, you can do very nice curved lines. Yeah, beyond rudimentary.

1688.034 - 1693.223 Josh Clark

No, neither am I. I can make a line go up and a line go to the left or right.

1693.463 - 1695.487 Chuck Bryant

Yeah, we'll get to that. I can't even make it go down.

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