Happy Etch A Sketch Day!

Jul 12, 2026 10:22 PM

pikajane

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Today Etch A Sketch turns 66 years old! Wooh!

Under normal circumstances I would be celebrating this fun occasion with a wee bit more pomp and circumstance, but alas! I recently returned from a whirlwind Michigan/Chicago trip where I taught 7 Etch A Sketch workshops, and I brought home a lovely virus which has had me practically couchbound ever since. (No it's not that diarrhea one so at least I have that going for me.) The above photo was snapped after my most recent library workshop in Maryland, which feels like as apropos a celebratory photo as any since I had the pleasure of meeting a handful of you on my more recent workshop adventures.

As I continue convalescing, I'd love to learn about your favorite toy when you were a kid. You already know what mine is! Wishing you all the Etchiest of Sketches on this auspicious occasion :)

etchasketch

I hope you feel better soon!

2 months ago | Likes 12 Dislikes 0

Erector set.

2 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Do get better !. You are one of the beautiful light at this place :-)

2 months ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

I think my favourite you was my bike and the escape it offered. And books of course.

2 months ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 0

My bike was my LIFE when I was a kid, I totally get it!

2 months ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

Great skirt :)

2 months ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

That's a great dress!

2 months ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 1

Hope you feel better soon Jane. Is there a story behind the Eiffel tower pendant?

2 months ago | Likes 34 Dislikes 0

There is! It was a gift from my friend's daughter who I have been teaching drawing classes to over zoom since she was around 4.

2 months ago | Likes 28 Dislikes 1

Legos. I used to make giant constructions with Legos that would cross my bedroom. And that was back when Legos were still really basic.

2 months ago | Likes 21 Dislikes 1

Love that! I have very fond memories of building rainbow houses with the random bricks I had!

2 months ago | Likes 12 Dislikes 1

Water weenies. Those things were the bomb on a hot summer day. Made them out of pens, surgical tubing and tie wraps. Some of the ones we made were 10-15 feet long and retired multiple kids to carry around. Made for great water wars.

2 months ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

Hahaha, sounds like you were a menace (or a blessing) at the pool!

2 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I always thought all Etch-a-Sketches were red, so seeing a (shiny) blue colored one feels surreal. Get better soon. :)

2 months ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

It’ so blue!!!

2 months ago | Likes 29 Dislikes 1

2 months ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 1

Da ba dee

2 months ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 0

@OP always nice to see your posts with all the craziness going on. For me though either big wheels or lawn darts honestly. Lol

2 months ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

Get better soooon!

2 months ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 1

I loved little sets if dishes. I had tea parties for my teddy bears and dolls. I love to cook to this day.

2 months ago | Likes 8 Dislikes 0

That's so fun! I had a little tea set too that I would use exclusively at my grandma's house! I loved how dainty it was.

2 months ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

Thank you for still being a beam of light and colour in this politics filled, bleak world. Get well soon

2 months ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 1

Get well soon.

2 months ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

Estes rockets and anything with a Cox engine.

2 months ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

Happy Etch A Sketch Day, and what a neat skirt!

2 months ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 1

I had some favorites as a kid: Lincoln Logs, Hot Wheels, Lite Brite, and whatever video game I had.

Glad it’s not the diarrhea one and hope you feel better really soon!

2 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

No virus can stand against your level of cool. Not a chance. Feel better!

2 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

I got real sick a few weeks ago from something that gave me nausea, zero appetite (didn't eat for at least a day) and fatigue. If that sounds familiar, I'm sorry, but it did go by fairly fast with rest. My brother got it from me too

2 months ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 1

I started with my whole body being sore, and then experienced similar symptoms to you! My appetite was shot, I tried to eat nibbles when I could those first couple of days. But that fatigue was REAL. I took some NyQuil one night and slept 12 hours! I am grateful to be on the upswing now.

2 months ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

Its definitely something going around.

2 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Execute Sketch 66!

2 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Mine was Hot Wheels. I think I had almost every car they made (with cool names like Hot Heap), along with enough track to make it from my back bedroom to the living room with the battery-powered Supercharger Sprint Set.

2 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Dang! That's a whole lotta track!

2 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

That is a unique shade of blue! Very interesting

2 months ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 2

OMG i used to love the little mighty max playsets! We would drive from Ohio to NJ every year to visit family, and i was allowed to get a new set before the car ride. I had like 4 or 5 of them and i could play with them for hours, and i would carry them around inside my inspector gadget lunchbox along with all my other random stuff lol great times!

2 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Just looked em up - I didn't know Polly Pocket went so hard 🤣 incredible!!!

2 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

right?! It's like death metal polly pocket lol

2 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

That skirt is incredible!

2 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Feel better and probably the fisher price castle. Storm the castle!

2 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Yesss, the cannon was my favorite part! I scored one at a thrift store when I was a kid and it became the defacto barbie dream house for all of my action figures haha

2 months ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

My favorite toy was probably my doll house. It was just a wooden house with no wallpaper or anything attached, so it was a blank slate that I could decorate as I pleased and make anything work. I rarely used it to play "house" in the traditional sense and tended to come up with interesting stories for my other toys. I got some tiny handmade dolls (~1"/2.5cm) from Peru and imagined they were living in hillside rooms like the Pueblo. It was fun.

2 months ago | Likes 8 Dislikes 1

*also yes, I'm very aware NOW that there is a HUGE difference between native Peruvian culture and that of the southwestern United States. I was just a kid and in my mind I LOVED playing "indians" (it was the early 90s and I was a child, don't come at me). I've always loved being connected to the outdoors. Tbh my favorite "object" as a kid was a rock that I used as a seat to make my potions and "war paint" with rose petals and stuff. I was weird... still am. :)

2 months ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 1

Aw, do you still have any of those dolls from Peru? This story is so sweet!

2 months ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

I think so, yes! This memory made me Google them, they're called Guatemalan worry dolls (clearly my childhood memory does not understand geography). They weren't anything fancy but they were very unique for me.
Thank you for asking and helping me think of such a fun memory I haven't thought about in ages. <3

2 months ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

I had worry dolls too 🥺 I'd put them under my pillow to give them my worries! I remember they came in a tiny little drawstring bag. Aw these take me back!

2 months ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

I didn't know they were called worry dolls until today haha, if I'd known they would have been my little unpaid therapists!

2 months ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0