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R.I.P. Burt Meyer, toymaker who brought us Mouse Trap, Lite-Brite, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, and more
One of his designs, Lite-Brite, sits in the National Toy Hall of Fame. The toymaker was 99 years old.
Burt Meyer, the toymaker who defined the pre-video game landscape for kids of multiple generations, has passed away.
Meyer began his career with a degree in art at the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He taught at the Atlanta Art Institute for awhile, but it wasn't a fit, since according to his son, he "didn't believe in grades".
By the late 1950s, Meyer joined Chicago toy studio Marvin Glass & Associates, where he would produce so many of the iconic toys that everyone from Baby Boomers to Gen Alpha would end up enjoying.
The Lite-Brite was an immediate hit when Meyer demonstrated it for Hasbro and hit shelves in 1967. However, in 2022 it saw another boost in popularity after being featured on the hit series Stranger Things, demonstrating just how enduring Meyer's designs have been.
In addition to interactive toys like Lite-Brite and Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots - which got around the violent implications in boxing by having their heads pop up, instead of them falling over - Meyer created the board game Mouse Trap, which was one of the first ever 3D board games. He was inspired by a Rube Goldberg cartoon.
In 2022, Lite-Brite was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame.
The inventor and designer was 99 years old.
