Etch A Sketch Leaves Home

Etch A Sketch, the toy that lets kids create art on a screen using two knobs, and then erase it and start all over again, is leaving its Ohio home after 40 years.

To save labor and production costs, Ohio Art Company is closing its Bryan, Ohio plant and moving production to China.

The company announced its decision last month. Thirty workers are affected by the move - a lot for a town of 9,000 people. The Ohio employees made their last Etch A Sketches on Friday, three days before Christmas.

Although Etch A Sketch has continued to sell well, Ohio Art has had financial problems for two years.

Etch A Sketch was invented by Arthur Granjean of France in 1960. Since then, over 100 million of the plastic toys have been sold around the world.

The traditional Etch A Sketch had a red plastic frame, but now it's available in many colors and travel-size versions.