Ohio Art

The heart of Ohio Art is a great classic toy - the Etch a Sketch. Ohio Art Toy Company began in 1908 when Henry Simon Winzeler started a manufacturing company in a rented band hall in Archbold, Ohio. Naming it the Ohio Art Company to reflect his lifelong interest in art, he set about producing metal picture frames and other novelty items to be sold to leading retail stores across the nation.In the late 1950's, Andre Cassagnes, a French electriciane, stumbled upon the idea of creating a drawing toy with a joystick, glass and aluminum powder. Cassagnes called this early concept, the "Telecran", which, through relationships with key business partners, made its way to Ohio. The system they developed together in the late 1950s is the same system that is at the core of the Etch A Sketch today.