Burt Meyer, the visionary toy designer whose creations shaped childhood for generations, has died at 99. His work may have belonged to the pre video game era, but the impact he had on pop culture has never faded, not even a little.
Meyer began his career with an art degree from the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He later taught at the Atlanta Art Institute, a job his family says never quite fit him, since he “didn’t believe in grades,” according to his son, per the Chicago Sun-Times. It wasn’t until the late 1950s, when he joined the Chicago-based Marvin Glass and Associates toy studio, that Meyer found a place where his imagination could really take off.
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From there, he helped create some of the most beloved toys of the twentieth century and beyond. Meyer’s best known creation, the Lite-Brite, hit store shelves in 1967 after he demonstrated the concept for Hasbro. The simple idea of pushing tiny colored pegs through black paper to create glowing pictures turned out to be timeless. The toy had a surge of new interest in 2022 after it appeared in a key moment on Stranger Things, reminding a new generation how magical it still is.
Meyer’s talent for mixing creativity with kid-friendly engineering extended far past Lite-Brite. He played a major role in developing Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, which cleverly turned boxing into a pop-up head battle rather than a knockout fight.
Tim Dominick/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
He also designed the board game Mouse Trap, one of the first three dimensional board games ever made, inspired by the chain reaction contraptions in Rube Goldberg cartoons. These were toys that moved, surprised, and delighted without a screen in sight.
The staying power of Meyer’s work speaks for itself. Lite-Brite was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2022, more than half a century after its debut. Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots and Mouse Trap are still instantly recognizable hallmarks of American childhood and continue to be produced today.
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While Meyer kept a low profile outside the toy industry, the legacy he left behind is enormous. His inventions sparked creativity for millions of kids across decades and found surprising new life in pop culture.
Meyer died on October 30 and is survived by his daughter Sheryl, son Lee, grandchildren Judd, Jamie, Steve, Paul, Maya and Alec and six great-grandchildren.
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