Item: Etch-A-Sketch

Price: $17.99

Where to Buy: World-of-Toys

Review: My end table has the obligatory pile of books for us or our guests to peruse in spare moments of boredom. But the place of honor at the top of that stack goes not to a book, but a toy: the Etch-A-Sketch.

Maybe location is why I have a special affinity for this toy-- the first Etch-A-Sketch rolled off a production line in 1960 in Bryan, Ohio, just one city over and 21 years before I was born in nearby Defiance.

But really-- who can resist trying to write their name in cursive, carefully turning the white knobs that at once seem too sensitive and not sensitive enough? I was never too interested in drawing pictures with the Etch-A-Sketch, but I was fascinated by the geometric possibilities. More than once have I filled the entire screen with lines mere millimeters apart, yet never touching.

The Etch-A-Sketch is a classic toy that doesn't go out of style. Introduce it to a child for the first time, or buy it as a coffee table knick knack for your sibling or best friend.

Image from: World of Toys