Can It Be? My Old Friend Etch A Sketch Is in the News?

I had an Etch A Sketch when I was a child. It was absolutely one of my favorite toys. I had no artistic capabilities whatsoever, but that didn't stop me from having hours of fun with the thing. I could create endless numbers of designs and doodles and when I got bored with it or messed it up really badly, all I had to do was shake it up and start over again. Who knew that was going to become a political metaphor some day?

When Mitt Romney compared reframing his campaign to shaking an Etch A Sketch, the whole world seemed to take notice ... and scoff. His simple comment, "It's almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and we start all over again," is reverberating all over the news outlets. It tickles me that so many people are responding so quickly to this one little comment.

It is an indication to me of how embedded in our psyche Etch A Sketch has become. This amazing "Original Magic Screen" that lets us just "Shake to Erase" and start all over again appeals to one and all. How wonderful that an unassuming, relatively basic little toy invented in 1960 by the Ohio Art Company has become this universal touchstone that everyone seems to be able to relate to.

I think perhaps it's time I stopped by the store and picked up a new Etch A Sketch for myself. I know I could certainly stand a little "shake and erase and start all over" therapy from time to time myself!