Colors may have changed, but Crayola craze continues

By Teddye Snell
TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS (TAHLEQUAH, Okla.)

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. February 01, 2007 03:45 pm

— Unless you’re a centenarian or well into your golden years, you probably don’t realize Crayola crayons have always been part of Binney & Smith Co.
Descendants of the creators of one of America’s most-recognized craft tools understand the Crayola name stands on its own, and dropped the Binney & Smith Co. name, effective Jan. 1.
Whatever the name, many area residents have fond memories of Crayola crayons — including Dana Espinal, director of facilities, marketing and public relations for NEOHealth.
“I started with the jumbo pack [larger-sized Crayolas for smaller hands] when I was a toddler, then moved my way up to the 64-pack as I became more ‘experienced,’” said Espinal.
For those who are Crayola-challenged, the 64-pack was the large, two-tiered box that came with the coveted sharpener in the bottom of the box.
Espinal was one of the few who didn’t care about the sharpener.
“It always seemed to eat my Crayolas,” she recalled.
Lori Frank, administrative assistant for Cherokee Nation Marshal Service, had two packs as a child: the eight- and the 64-count.
“I kept the eight-pack on hand,” said Frank. “But I treasured the jumbo pack with the sharpener. The sharpener was very important. It was necessary to have for outlining and coloring very detailed pages.”
Mary Morgan, roadside assistance agent for Dollar-Thrifty Auto Group, agreed with Frank on the importance of the sharpener.
“You can’t do shading properly with a dull crayon,” said Morgan.
According to Crayola’s Web site, crayons were invented by Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith, whose company served as general distributor for carbon black producers, when they noticed a need for safe, quality, affordable wax crayons.
In 1903 Binney & Smith Co. produced its first box of eight Crayola crayons, containing red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown and black sticks and selling for a nickel.
The name “Crayola” was created by Binney’s wife, Alice, and comes from “craie,” the French word for chalk, and “ola,” from oleaginous — meaning oily or greasy.
It wasn’t until 1958 that the 64-pack — the one most remembered by Baby Boomers — was introduced.
According to the LosT CrayolA ColorS ProjecT, the 64-count box of Crayola crayons “has to be the quintessential icon of a Baby Boomer childhood.” It came out just in time for Christmas 1958.
Crayola crayons currently come in 120 colors, including 23 reds, 20 greens, 19 blues, 16 purples, 14 oranges, 11 browns, eight yellows, two grays, two coppers, two blacks, one white, one gold and one silver. But the labels are only made in 18 colors, which covers the full spectrum.
Most Crayola crayon names are taken from the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Bureau of Standards book, “Color: Universal Language and Dictionary of Names.” Some crayon names are also borrowed from traditional artists’ paints.
For children at Miss Jean Parker’s Day Care, favorite colors run the gamut.
“I like rainbow!” said 3-year-old Morgan Pack, daughter of Tahlequah High School math teacher Chuck Pack.
Although Morgan has a few years to go, the average 10-year-old has worn down approximately 730 crayons — or 11.4 boxes of 64, complete with sharpener.
Shaw Thornton, 4, likes any shade of blue crayon, and he’s not alone. According to the Crayola site, the Crayola Color Census conducted in 2000 revealed that plain old blue is America’s favorite crayon color. Six other shades of blue finished in the top 10, including cerulean, midnight blue, aquamarine, periwinkle, denim and blizzard blue.
Parker indicated the age-old tussle of who is using what crayon has taken on a whole new meaning in the modern age.
“Kids still fuss over them,” said Parker. “Only now that they [Crayola] make glitter crayons, the girls fight over those. I had to remove them because they caused such a stir. But that never eliminates the standard ‘He’s using the blue I want,’ that still goes on. We just take turns.”
In addition to coloring books and pictures, shavings from crayons took on a new medium for budding young artists. Morgan use her shavings for three-dimensional art.
“I made entire villages of multicolored teepees,” she said.
Espinal got really creative with her shavings, making candles, jewelry, frames, refrigerator art, “you name it!”
For those without sharpeners, one of the most difficult tasks could be that of having to peel back the paper wrapper to reveal more crayon.
“It was upsetting to have to peel the wrapper,” said Frank. “I did this very carefully.”
Accidents happen, and more often than not, crayons get broken – along with some hearts, like Frank’s.
“When one was broken, it made me want to replace the whole box.”
Espinal found other uses for her broken crayons.
“I used it [broken crayon] for my craft projects,” said Espinal. “I kept a big box of old or broken ones and used them later.”
Teddye Snell writes for the Tahlequah (Okla.) Daily Press.

Did you know?
• Kids, ages 2-8 spend an average of 28 minutes each day coloring? Combined, children in the U.S. spend 6.3 billion hours coloring annually, almost 10,000 human lifetimes.
• In February, 1996, the 100 billionth Crayola crayon was made by Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood? The crayon was a once in a lifetime color: Blue ribbon.
• Crayon color names rarely change? Exceptions include Prussian blue, which was changed in 1958 to midnight blue; in 1962, the color flesh was changed to peach; and, in 1999, Indian red was renamed to chestnut.
• The scent of Crayola crayons is among the 20 most recognizable to American adults? According to a Yale University study, coffee and peanut butter and numbers one and two, Crayola crayons is number 18.
• Crayola crayons come in eight different size boxes? The include 8, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64, 96 and 120. Although 64 and 96 boxes are larger, the 24-count Crayola box remains the best seller.
Source: B&S History and Crayola Trivia, May 2001.

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