History of Crayola crayons
Since the introduction of Crayola drawing crayons by Binney & Smith in 1903, more than two hundred colors have been produced in a wide variety of assortments.
The name Crayola was suggested by Alice Binney, wife of company founder Edwin Binney, combining craie, French for "chalk," a reference to the pastels that preceded and lent their name to the first drawing crayons, with the suffix -ola, meaning "oleaginous," a reference to the wax from which the crayons were made.
The names of several crayons varied from box to box;[6] in general the larger assortments tended to use names associated with oil paints, and in fact early Crayola literature frequently describes drawing with crayons as a form of painting.
[7] Over time, simpler names were favored, and several colors were discontinued by 1910, including Light and Dark Venetian Red, Permanent Geranium Lake, Celestial Blue, Raw Sienna, and Charcoal Gray; the use of "Purple" as an alternative for "Violet" ended about 1914; and after 1915 Gold, Silver, and Copper were no longer available in assortments, although Gold and Silver were still available in bulk.
These were combined with Black, Neutral Gray, White, and Brown to produce a sixteen-color box.
[7] When full production was resumed in 1949, Binney & Smith eliminated most of the Munsell colors and their significant overlap with other hues.
[7] While many older crayons were eliminated from the Crayola line, several new colors representing light, medium, and dark shades of the principal and intermediate hues were added, to create the most systematic assortment yet produced.
48 box was Crayola's largest collection, and for decades afterward, it remained an integral part of the line.
64 was Binney & Smith's largest regular assortment for more than thirty years, and featured the last major changes to Crayola colors before 1990.
From then to 1990, no colors were replaced, although, in 1963, Flesh was formally renamed Peach, partially in response to the civil rights movement, the company said.
The 1970s saw the introduction of Crayola's first specialty crayons, eight fluorescent colors designed to glow under black light.
The winners were announced the following year, and included: Macaroni and Cheese, Asparagus, Granny Smith Apple, Shamrock, Tropical Rain Forest, Robin's Egg Blue, Pacific Blue, Denim, Purple Mountains' Majesty, Wisteria, Cerise, Razzmatazz, Tickle Me Pink, Mauvelous, Tumbleweed, and Timberwolf.
[7] In 1996, a special color called Blue Ribbon was produced to celebrate the production of one hundred billion Crayola crayons since 1903.
The following year, four bright colors were introduced: Sunset Orange, Caribbean Green, Vivid Violet, and Pink Flamingo, which were then incorporated into the regular lineup.
1997 also saw a contest called to name eight new colors, incorporated into assortments the following year: Torch Red (later “Scarlet” in 1998), Banana Mania, Mountain Meadow, Outer Space, Purple Heart, Brink Pink (later “Pink Sherbet” in 2005), Fuzzy Wuzzy Brown, and Shadow.
In addition to the existing colors, twelve more were added to the lineup in order to bring the count of regular and fluorescent crayons up to 120.
These were: Canary, Fern, Manatee, Blue Bell, Eggplant, Cotton Candy, Cranberry (later “Blush” in 2005), Pig Pink, Beaver, Desert Sand, Almond, and Antique Brass, a metallic crayon.
[7] Crayola enthusiasts were given the opportunity to save one of five colors nominated for retirement via an internet poll: the winner was Burnt Sienna.
The concept of the color wheel first became associated with Crayola crayons with Binney & Smith's acquisition of the Munsell line in 1926.
