Cassagnes was born outside Paris, France, on September 23, 1926.[1] His parents owned and operated a bakery, where he worked as a teenager.[1] An allergy to flour forced him to seek another line of work,[2] and he became an electrician for the Lincrusta Company, a French manufacturer which produced picture frame covers using an aluminum powder.[1]
In one instance, Cassagnes was performing a routine installation of a factory light switch plate.[1] The plate was wrapped in a translucent decal covering.[1] 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.[1] 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."[1] The toy was first unveiled in 1959 at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in Nuremberg, West Germany.[1] Cassagnes later partnered with the American manufacturer Ohio Art Company to further develop the Etch a Sketch into its familiar form.[1] The Ohio Art Company launched the Etch a Sketch in the United States during the 1960 holiday season.[1]
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.[1] A 1992 article in Kite Lines magazine described him then as "the most famous kitemaker in France."[2] 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.[1]
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).[1][3][4] He was survived by his wife, Renée, and their three children.[1]
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