Wikipedia
Burt Meyer invented Lite-Brite and co-invented other fantastic pieces of plastic like Mr. Machine, Mouse Trap, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, Toss Across and more.
Burt’s favorite “item,” as he calls his inventions, is Lite-Brite. Burt’s brainstorm of using translucent, colored pegs to funnel light, has given kids creative fun at their fingertips for 44 years. Meyer recalled the moment when he sold the idea to Hasbro’s president, Merrill Hassenfeld. “I brought Merrill into our conference room,” Meyer said. “I dimmed the lights and plugged it [the Lite-Brite prototype] in. As soon as I put a peg in, it lit up. After he tried it himself, he sat back and said ‘That’s my item!’ He and Marvin inked a deal within an hour.” Lite-Brite has been a staple in Hasbro’s line ever since.
When Hasbro released the new art toy Lite-Brite in 1967, it was hard to imagine that young artists would become so attached to a little light box. It consists of a light box with a hexagonal grid of holes using small colored plastic pegs that fit into a panel/panels and illuminate to create a lit picture, by either using one of the included templates or creating a 'freeform' image on a blank sheet of black paper. There are eight peg colors: red, blue, orange, white (clear/colorless), green, yellow, pink, violet (purple).
In the event that pegs were lost or damaged, Hasbro provided refills and/or new colors. Color-by-letter templates were sold with the set so that children could create characters including Mickey Mouse, Scooby-Doo, and My Little Pony, among others.