Ohio Art Co. says Etch A Sketch inventor Andre Cassagnes dies near Paris

Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum holds an Etch A Sketch as he speaks to USAA employees during a campaign stop, Thursday, March 22, 2012, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

BRYAN, Ohio - An Ohio toy maker says the inventor of the Etch A Sketch, the famous red toy that generations of children drew on, shook up and started over, has died in France.

The Ohio Art Co. based in Bryan in northwest Ohio says 86-year-old Andre Cassagnes (kah-sahn-YEH') died Jan. 16 in a Paris suburb. The cause wasn't disclosed Saturday.

Ohio Art president Larry Killgallon says the company will always be grateful for an invention that brought joy to so many.

The Toy Industry Association says Cassagnes came upon the Etch A Sketch idea in the late 1950s. He peeled a translucent decal from a light switch plate and found pencil mark images transferred to the opposite face.

The toy, with its grey screen and red frame, has two knobs that are twisted to create drawings. A shake erases the image.