The latest episode of HBO’s The Last of Us introduced viewers to Henry (Lamar Johnson) and Sam (Keivonn Woodard), brothers being hunted by the radical militia group which overthrew the Kansas City Quarantine Zone. Henry and Sam feature in a pivotal part of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us video game, and the show depicted their arc in all its tragic glory.
It also made a few changes, the largest being that in the TV show, Sam is Deaf. While Sam’s older brother Henry is well-versed in ASL, neither Joel nor Ellie know sign language. Instead, Sam often writes on a toy reminiscent of an Etch A Sketch to convey his thoughts to Ellie or Joel.
If you’re wondering what exactly that toy was, we’ve got you covered. Take a trip with us back to the 1920s.
Does Sam use an Etch A Sketch in The Last of Us?
First off, let’s dispel a question I’m sure a lot of people have after the episode: no, Sam is not using an Etch A Sketch.
Despite serving a similar sort of purpose, the Etch A Sketch is a distinctly different toy that uses a stylus, magnets and internal powders to create images. The toy that Sam uses functions totally differently.
So what is it exactly?
What toy does Sam use to communicate on The Last of Us?
The toy Sam uses to write messages is a magic slate paper saver. I didn’t capitalize that because that’s the type of toy, which was made by a variety of companies with a ton of different designs and cartoons on them. Its fascinating origins can be traced all the way back to a corset factory in 1923.
As it turns out, magic slate paper savers might be one of the most handy tools to have in a post-apocalypse for written communication. The pad is constructed of a sheet of acetate over a wax board; when you draw on it with the stylus, the acetate sticks very lightly to the wax sheet below and the darker color of the wax shows through to give the illusion of writing or drawing. However, as soon as you lift the sheet of acetate, it erases everything. They can be reused an infinite number of times, right up until you get bit by a clicker.
Game creator and HBO series co-showrunner Neil Druckmann has been pretty open about how he designed The Last of Us as a love letter to America, including road trip elements and iconic vistas from across the country. The magic slate paper saver was an incredibly popular toy in the U.S. form the 1950s through the 1990s. It even played a role in the Cold War in the 1960s, when members of the United States embassy in Moscow, Russia used magic slates to communicate because they believed the entire building was bugged with listening devices.
New episodes of The Last of Us premiere Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.
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