LITE-BRITE
BURT MEYER’S BRITE IDEA
Lite Brite was invented by Burt Meyer, Dalia Verbickas, and Joseph M. Burck at Chicago’s Marvin Glass and Associates company in 1967. The inspiration for the toy came from a glowing, colorful illuminated Manhattan window display that the inventors walked past in 1966. Together, they created an art toy that allows children to create glowing pictures by inserting colorful translucent plastic pegs into an illuminated board. The game was released by Hasbro and originally sold for $6.95; it included a 25-watt lightbulb, black construction paper, and 400 translucent plastic pegs in eight colors.
LIGHTING UP GENERATIONS
Lite Brites were instantly popular, selling millions of units by the 70s and even selling millions of replacement peg sets. Hasbro soon began expanding the product line to include themed editions, travel-sized versions, and battery-powered models that appealed to new generations of children as well as accessory expansion packs, including alphabet, numbers, and shapes. Lite Brite's popularity grew over the years, and in 2011, it was named one of the Top 100 Toys of All Time in Time Magazine, and a little over a decade later, Lite Brite was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. More than half a century after its introduction, Lite-Brite continues to be remembered as a groundbreaking toy that transformed simple colored pegs and light into a timeless creative experience.
