Crayola
Encyclopedia
Crayola is a brand of artists' supplies manufactured by Crayola LLC, which was founded in 1885 as Binney & Smith. It is best known for its crayon
s. The company is based in Forks Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania
.
Originally an industrial pigment supply company, Crayola soon shifted its focus to art products for home and school use, beginning with chalk
, then crayons, followed later by colored pencils, marker
s, paint
s, modeling clay, and other related goods. All Crayola-branded products are marketed as nontoxic
and safe for use by children.
The company also produces Silly Putty
and a line of professional art products under the Portfolio Series brand.
Crayola LLC claims the Crayola brand has 99% name recognition in U.S. consumer households, and says its products are sold in over 80 countries.
and C. Harold Smith in New York City
in 1885 as Binney & Smith. Initial products were colorants for industrial use, including red iron oxide
pigments used in barn paint and carbon black
chemicals used for making tires black and extending their useful lifespan. Binney & Smith's new process of creating inexpensive black colorants was entered into the chemistry industries competition at the 1900 Paris Exposition
under the title "carbon gas blacks, lamp or oil blacks, 'Peerless' black" and earned the company a gold medal award in chemical and pharmaceutical arts. Also in 1900, the company added production of slate
school pencils. Binney's experimentation with industrial materials, including slate waste, cement
, and talc
, led to the invention of the first dustless white chalk
, for which the company won a gold medal at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair
.
In 1902, Binney & Smith developed and introduced the Staonal marking crayon. Then Edwin Binney
, working with his wife, Alice Stead Binney, developed his own famous product line of wax
crayons beginning on 10 June 1903, which it sold under the brand name "Crayola." The Crayola name was coined by Alice Binney, wife of company founder Edwin and a former schoolteacher. It comes from "craie", French for "chalk," and "ola" for "oleaginous", or "oily." Crayola introduced its crayons not with one box, but with a full product line. By 1905, the line had expanded to offering 18 different-sized crayon boxes with five different-sized crayons, only two of which survive today - the "standard size" (a standard sized Crayola crayon is 3 5/8" x 5/16") and the "large size" (large sized crayola crayons are 4" x 7/16"). The product line offered crayon boxes contained containing 6, 7, 8, 12, 14, 16, 18, 24, 28, or 30 different color crayons. Some of these boxes were targeted for artists and contained crayons with no wrappers, while others had a color number printed on the wrapper that corresponded to a number on a list of color names printed inside the box lid, but some boxes contained crayons with their color names printed on their wrappers.
The Rubens
Crayola line, started in 1903 (not in the 1920s, as claimed by some sources), was directly targeted at artists and designed to compete with the Raphael
brand of crayons from Europe
. The crayon boxes sold from five cents for a No.6 Rubens box containing six different-colored crayons to $1.50 for the No. 500 Rubens Special Artists and Designers Crayon box containing 24 different-colored, larger (4 1/4" x 1/2") crayons.
In April 1904 at the St. Louis World's Fair, Binney & Smith won the Gold Medal for their An-Du-Septic dustless chalk. Receiving a medal at an Exposition was and still of importance, with companies featuring their medals on their products. Two companies to use the 1904 medal were Jack Daniel's
whiskey (which still use it on their bottles to this day) and Binney & Smith. Subsequently, Crayola used the opportunity to develop a new packaging strategy by emphasizing their gold medal on the front of many of their products and crayon boxes. This strategy turned out to be so successful and recognizable to their brand that they phased out nearly all of their other Crayola line box designs to adapt to the gold medal format. The gold medal branding appeared on their packaging for the next 50-plus years.
In 1905, the prototype offering of their new No. 8 crayon box (with eight crayons) from their Gold Medal line featured a copy from the side of the medal with an eagle on it. This was changed to the other side of the medal with the 1904 date on it in Roman numerals.
Crayola also began to either phase out boxes or adapt new ones incorporating the Gold Medal design.
Binney & Smith purchased the Munsell Color Company crayon product line in 1926, and inherited 22 new colors, 11 in the maximum and 11 in the middle hue ranges. They retain the Munsell name on products such as “Munsell-Crayola” and “Munsell-Perma” until 1934, and then incorporated their colors into their own Crayola Gold Medal line of boxes.
In 1939, Crayola, by combining its existing crayon colors with the Munsell colors, introduced its largest color assortment product to date; a "No. 52 Drawing Crayon 52 Color Assortment", which was retired by the 1944 price list.
In 1949, Crayola introduced the "Crayola No. 48" containing 48 color crayons in a "stadium seating" box.
Further expansion took place in 1958 with the introduction of the 64-color pack that included the company's first crayon sharpener built into the box. The 64-color box was called "a watershed" moment in the history of the Crayola crayon by Smithsonian National Museum of American History
curator David Shayt.
In addition to Binney & Smith's familiar Crayola line, it also made other crayon lines, including Anti-Roll, Arista, Art-Toy, Besco, Boston, Cerata, Cerola, Chic’ago, Doo Zee, Durel, Easy-Off, Gotham, Liquitex, Munsell Crayola, Perma, Pooh, Protfolio, Rubens, Spectra, Tiny Tots, Washable, and Widstrok.
In 1977, Binney & Smith acquired the rights to Silly Putty
. Crayola markers were introduced in 1978 to coincide with the 75th anniversary of Crayola crayons. Colored pencils and a line of washable markers were added in 1987.
Crayola Crayons were inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame
at The Strong
in Rochester, New York
, in 1998.
The 13 officially retired crayon colors are "Blue Gray", "Lemon Yellow", "Orange Red", "Orange Yellow", "Violet Blue", "Maize", "Green Blue", "Raw Umber", "Thistle", "Blizzard Blue", "Mulberry", "Teal Blue", and "Magic Mint".
Some colors have been renamed rather than replaced, often due to cultural sensitivity issues. For example, "Flesh" was changed to "Peach", since not all people have the same hued complexion, and "Indian Red" was changed to "Chestnut" out of concern that the name might be thought to be a reference to the skin color of Native Americans
, although the name actually referred to a red pigment from India
. "Prussian Blue" was renamed "Midnight Blue", since Prussia
had long since ceased to exist and the name had fallen into disuse.
The following colors are included in the 8, 16, and 24 packs:
Special Colors
s via mail-in vote.
study found the scent of Crayola crayons is one of the most recognizable scents for adults, ranking at number 18, trailing coffee
and peanut butter
that were number one and two respectively, but beating out cheese
and bleach
, which placed at 19 and 20.
The Smithsonian National Museum of American History maintains a collection of Crayola crayons founded by an original 64-color box donated by Binney & Smith in 1998. The collection now includes more than 300 boxes of crayons.
The Crayola crayon was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame
as a founding member at its inception.
Crayola has been featured in segments from the popular children's shows Sesame Street
and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
, with the official 100 billionth crayon molded by Fred Rogers himself in February 1996 at the plant in Easton.
issued a 32-cent postage stamp to commemorate the cultural impact the product has had on almost all Americans
. Although the crayons debuted in 1903 and the stamp is titled as such, the box depicted includes the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair
Gold Medal insignia (dated MCMIV) won by Binney & Smith for their dustless chalk, so it can not be the original 1903 package design.
The stamp is part of the 1900s decade sheet of the Celebrate the Century
souvenir sheet series, and was designed by Carl Herrman, illustrated by Richard Waldrep and printed by Ashton-Potter USA using the offset
/intaglio
process.
chose "Blue Bell," Tiger Woods
chose "Wild Strawberry," and Courteney Cox Arquette chose "Red." Overall, "Blue" came in first, with "Cerulean" second and "Purple Heart" third. Full results are available here.
, USA, at Two Rivers Landing, separate from the main manufacturing plant in the same city. The factory is open to the public. Despite its name, the factory is not a manufacturing plant, but rather a museum and visitor center geared toward familiarizing guests with Crayola's history and products.
A "discovery center" was built that showcases the manufacturing process of crayons. There is also a "Crayola Hall of Fame" in which the retired crayon colors are displayed.
The Crayola Factory was featured in a Food Network
episode of Dinner: Impossible
. A dinner was held for 150 employees of the Crayola Factory to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 64 -box of crayons. Chef Michael Symon
's mission was to create an eight-course tasting menu for this event, where all eight items of the menu had to match eight randomly chosen Crayola crayon colors.
In October 2003, the Factory unveiled "The World's Largest Crayon," a 15-foot crayon weighing 1,500 lb as part of its celebration of 100 years of Crayola crayons. The giant crayon is blue, and was made of leftover crayon bits sent in by children across the United States.
From 2007 to 2009, Ryan Canfield served as the Factory's mascot, "Tip".
is a silicone
polymer
children's toy used for various purposes. Silly Putty was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame
in 2001.
s, watercolors, drawing pencils, colored pencils, and acrylic paint
s marketed to artists and educators.
corporation, a producer of fine art supply products, in 1964, but sold it to the ColArt company in 2000.
in 1885, Binney & Smith incorporated
in 1902. The corporation became a publicly-traded company under the symbol BYS on the American Stock Exchange
in 1963, and later moved to the New York Stock Exchange
under the same symbol in 1978. In 1984, the company was acquired by the Hallmark Cards
company, a privately held corporation. On 1 January 2007, the "Binney & Smith" moniker was retired in favor of the "Crayola LLC" corporate name to showcase the company's well-known brand, which is in use in more than 80 countries and had 99% name recognition in U.S. consumer households.
, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
and Mexico City
, Mexico
.The colored pencils are made by Faber-Castell
Brazilian plants.
Crayon
A crayon is a stick of colored wax, charcoal, chalk, or other materials used for writing, coloring, drawing, and other methods of illustration. A crayon made of oiled chalk is called an oil pastel; when made of pigment with a dry binder, it is simply a pastel; both are popular media for color...
s. The company is based in Forks Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania
Forks Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania
Forks Township is a township in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. Forks Township is located in the Lehigh Valley region of the state.The population of Forks Township was 8,419 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
.
Originally an industrial pigment supply company, Crayola soon shifted its focus to art products for home and school use, beginning with chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
, then crayons, followed later by colored pencils, marker
Marker pen
thumb|MarkerA marker pen, marking pen, felt-tip pen, flow or marker, is a pen which has its own ink-source, and usually a tip made of a porous, pressed fibres; such as felt or nylon.-Permanent marker:...
s, paint
Paint
Paint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film. One may also consider the digital mimicry thereof...
s, modeling clay, and other related goods. All Crayola-branded products are marketed as nontoxic
Toxicity
Toxicity is the degree to which a substance can damage a living or non-living organisms. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a substructure of the organism, such as a cell or an organ , such as the liver...
and safe for use by children.
The company also produces Silly Putty
Silly Putty
Silly Putty , is the Crayola-owned trademark name for a class of silicone polymers. It is marketed today as a toy for children, but was originally created by accident during research into potential rubber substitutes for use by the United States in World War II...
and a line of professional art products under the Portfolio Series brand.
Crayola LLC claims the Crayola brand has 99% name recognition in U.S. consumer households, and says its products are sold in over 80 countries.
History
The company was founded by cousins Edwin BinneyEdwin Binney
Edwin Binney is best known for his invention of the Crayola crayon.In 1885, Binney took control of his father's business, Peeksill Chemical Co. While experimenting with a mixture of slate waste, cement, and talc, Binney created the first:) dustless white chalk. The invention was awarded a gold...
and C. Harold Smith in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1885 as Binney & Smith. Initial products were colorants for industrial use, including red iron oxide
Iron oxide
Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. All together, there are sixteen known iron oxides and oxyhydroxides.Iron oxides and oxide-hydroxides are widespread in nature, play an important role in many geological and biological processes, and are widely utilized by humans, e.g.,...
pigments used in barn paint and carbon black
Carbon black
Carbon black is a material produced by the incomplete combustion of heavy petroleum products such as FCC tar, coal tar, ethylene cracking tar, and a small amount from vegetable oil. Carbon black is a form of amorphous carbon that has a high surface-area-to-volume ratio, although its...
chemicals used for making tires black and extending their useful lifespan. Binney & Smith's new process of creating inexpensive black colorants was entered into the chemistry industries competition at the 1900 Paris Exposition
Exposition Universelle (1900)
The Exposition Universelle of 1900 was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from April 15 to November 12, 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next...
under the title "carbon gas blacks, lamp or oil blacks, 'Peerless' black" and earned the company a gold medal award in chemical and pharmaceutical arts. Also in 1900, the company added production of slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
school pencils. Binney's experimentation with industrial materials, including slate waste, cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
, and talc
Talc
Talc is a mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate with the chemical formula H2Mg34 or Mg3Si4O102. In loose form, it is the widely-used substance known as talcum powder. It occurs as foliated to fibrous masses, its crystals being so rare as to be almost unknown...
, led to the invention of the first dustless white chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
, for which the company won a gold medal at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair
Louisiana Purchase Exposition
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the Saint Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States in 1904.- Background :...
.
In 1902, Binney & Smith developed and introduced the Staonal marking crayon. Then Edwin Binney
Edwin Binney
Edwin Binney is best known for his invention of the Crayola crayon.In 1885, Binney took control of his father's business, Peeksill Chemical Co. While experimenting with a mixture of slate waste, cement, and talc, Binney created the first:) dustless white chalk. The invention was awarded a gold...
, working with his wife, Alice Stead Binney, developed his own famous product line of wax
Wax
thumb|right|[[Cetyl palmitate]], a typical wax ester.Wax refers to a class of chemical compounds that are plastic near ambient temperatures. Characteristically, they melt above 45 °C to give a low viscosity liquid. Waxes are insoluble in water but soluble in organic, nonpolar solvents...
crayons beginning on 10 June 1903, which it sold under the brand name "Crayola." The Crayola name was coined by Alice Binney, wife of company founder Edwin and a former schoolteacher. It comes from "craie", French for "chalk," and "ola" for "oleaginous", or "oily." Crayola introduced its crayons not with one box, but with a full product line. By 1905, the line had expanded to offering 18 different-sized crayon boxes with five different-sized crayons, only two of which survive today - the "standard size" (a standard sized Crayola crayon is 3 5/8" x 5/16") and the "large size" (large sized crayola crayons are 4" x 7/16"). The product line offered crayon boxes contained containing 6, 7, 8, 12, 14, 16, 18, 24, 28, or 30 different color crayons. Some of these boxes were targeted for artists and contained crayons with no wrappers, while others had a color number printed on the wrapper that corresponded to a number on a list of color names printed inside the box lid, but some boxes contained crayons with their color names printed on their wrappers.
The Rubens
Rubens
Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens , the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens (composer) Rubens is...
Crayola line, started in 1903 (not in the 1920s, as claimed by some sources), was directly targeted at artists and designed to compete with the Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
brand of crayons from Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The crayon boxes sold from five cents for a No.6 Rubens box containing six different-colored crayons to $1.50 for the No. 500 Rubens Special Artists and Designers Crayon box containing 24 different-colored, larger (4 1/4" x 1/2") crayons.
In April 1904 at the St. Louis World's Fair, Binney & Smith won the Gold Medal for their An-Du-Septic dustless chalk. Receiving a medal at an Exposition was and still of importance, with companies featuring their medals on their products. Two companies to use the 1904 medal were Jack Daniel's
Jack Daniel's
Jack Daniel's is a brand of sour mash Tennessee whiskey that is among the world's best-selling liquors. It is known for its square bottles and black label. As of November, 2007, one blogger was claiming that it was the best-selling whiskey in the world. It is produced in Lynchburg, Tennessee by...
whiskey (which still use it on their bottles to this day) and Binney & Smith. Subsequently, Crayola used the opportunity to develop a new packaging strategy by emphasizing their gold medal on the front of many of their products and crayon boxes. This strategy turned out to be so successful and recognizable to their brand that they phased out nearly all of their other Crayola line box designs to adapt to the gold medal format. The gold medal branding appeared on their packaging for the next 50-plus years.
In 1905, the prototype offering of their new No. 8 crayon box (with eight crayons) from their Gold Medal line featured a copy from the side of the medal with an eagle on it. This was changed to the other side of the medal with the 1904 date on it in Roman numerals.
Crayola also began to either phase out boxes or adapt new ones incorporating the Gold Medal design.
Binney & Smith purchased the Munsell Color Company crayon product line in 1926, and inherited 22 new colors, 11 in the maximum and 11 in the middle hue ranges. They retain the Munsell name on products such as “Munsell-Crayola” and “Munsell-Perma” until 1934, and then incorporated their colors into their own Crayola Gold Medal line of boxes.
In 1939, Crayola, by combining its existing crayon colors with the Munsell colors, introduced its largest color assortment product to date; a "No. 52 Drawing Crayon 52 Color Assortment", which was retired by the 1944 price list.
In 1949, Crayola introduced the "Crayola No. 48" containing 48 color crayons in a "stadium seating" box.
Further expansion took place in 1958 with the introduction of the 64-color pack that included the company's first crayon sharpener built into the box. The 64-color box was called "a watershed" moment in the history of the Crayola crayon by Smithsonian National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History
The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific and military history. Among the items on display are the original Star-Spangled Banner and Archie Bunker's...
curator David Shayt.
In addition to Binney & Smith's familiar Crayola line, it also made other crayon lines, including Anti-Roll, Arista, Art-Toy, Besco, Boston, Cerata, Cerola, Chic’ago, Doo Zee, Durel, Easy-Off, Gotham, Liquitex, Munsell Crayola, Perma, Pooh, Protfolio, Rubens, Spectra, Tiny Tots, Washable, and Widstrok.
In 1977, Binney & Smith acquired the rights to Silly Putty
Silly Putty
Silly Putty , is the Crayola-owned trademark name for a class of silicone polymers. It is marketed today as a toy for children, but was originally created by accident during research into potential rubber substitutes for use by the United States in World War II...
. Crayola markers were introduced in 1978 to coincide with the 75th anniversary of Crayola crayons. Colored pencils and a line of washable markers were added in 1987.
Crayola Crayons were inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame
National Toy Hall of Fame
The National Toy Hall of Fame is an American hall of fame that recognizes the contributions of toys and games that have sustained their popularity for many years...
at The Strong
The Strong
The Strong is an interactive, collections-based educational institution in Rochester, New York, USA, devoted to the study and exploration of play...
in Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, in 1998.
Crayons
Crayola crayon packs vary in package counts of just a few crayons sold to establishments such as hotels and restaurants, to hand out to their young guests to 832-crayon "Classpack" bulk boxes marketed to schools. The colors contained in a package have ranged from two to 200 (although a 200-color package includes "special effect" crayons such as glitters, neons, etc.). The most common retail packages are multiples of eight, with 8, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64, 96, and 120 packs being marketed today. A 150-crayon pack featuring a plastic telescope-like case was introduced in 2006, and includes 118 regular color crayons, 16 glitter crayons, and 16 "Metallic FX" crayons, as well as a built-in sharpener at the apex of the tower.Colors
As the size of Crayola crayon packs increased from the original 1903 crayon packs, the variety of colors available has also increased — reaching 120 colors by 1998. Since 1998, new colors have been added, but always replacing existing colors. In all, 13 colors have been retired, bringing the total number of regular colors produced since 1958 to 133.The list below is shown in list of crayola crayon colors but it is included the colors added from 32, 48, 64, 96, and 120 packs, plus a table of retired colors and replaced colors.Some colors have been renamed rather than replaced, often due to cultural sensitivity issues. For example, "Flesh" was changed to "Peach", since not all people have the same hued complexion, and "Indian Red" was changed to "Chestnut" out of concern that the name might be thought to be a reference to the skin color of Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
, although the name actually referred to a red pigment from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. "Prussian Blue" was renamed "Midnight Blue", since Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
had long since ceased to exist and the name had fallen into disuse.
The following colors are included in the 8, 16, and 24 packs:
| 8 pack (1908) | x2 or +8 = 16 pack (1924) | +8 = 24 pack (1973) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red |
Orange |
Carnation Pink |
Red Orange |
Violet Red |
Scarlet |
| Yellow |
Green |
Yellow Orange |
Yellow Green |
Dandelion |
Green Yellow |
| Blue |
Violet (purple) |
Blue Green |
Blue Violet |
Cerulean |
Indigo |
| Brown |
Black |
Red Violet |
White | Apricot |
Gray |
Special Colors
Metallic FX
In 2001, Crayola released its Metallic FX specialty crayons featuring metallic colors; the new set of crayons were named by Americans and CanadianCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
s via mail-in vote.
| Crayola Metallic FX Crayon Colors | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metallic Seaweed |
Blast Off Bronze |
B'Dazzled Blue |
Sheen Green |
||||
| Sonic Silver |
Cyber Grape |
Big Dip O'Ruby |
Steel Blue |
||||
| Gold Fusion |
Metallic Sunburst |
Alloy Orange |
Illuminating Emerald |
||||
| Bittersweet Shimmer |
Razzmic Berry |
Shimmering Blush |
Deep Space Sparkle |
||||
Glitter
Black With Glitzy Gold Glitter, Blue With Shimmering Silver Glitter, Blue Green with Glitzy Gold Glitter, Carnation Pink With Lavender Glitter, Green With Twinkling Turquoise Glitter, Maroon With Glitzy Gold Glitter, Orange With Twinkling Turquoise Glitter, Orchid With Twinkling Turquoise Glitter, Red With Shimmering Silver Glitter, Red Violet With Glitzy Gold Glitter, Royal Purple With Ruby Red Glitter, Sky Blue With Glitzy Gold Glitter, White With Confetti Glitter, White With Glitzy Gold Glitter, Yellow With Rainbow Glitter, Yellow Green With Silver GlitterSpecialty crayons
Crayola has added other specialty products to its lineup, including scented, washable, triangular-shaped, sidewalk, twistable, window, and oversized crayons.Cultural impact
A Yale UniversityYale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
study found the scent of Crayola crayons is one of the most recognizable scents for adults, ranking at number 18, trailing coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
and peanut butter
Peanut butter
Peanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground dry roasted peanuts, popular in North America, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and parts of Asia, particularly the Philippines and Indonesia. It is mainly used as a sandwich spread, sometimes in combination as in the peanut butter and jelly...
that were number one and two respectively, but beating out cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
and bleach
Bleach
Bleach refers to a number of chemicals that remove color, whiten, or disinfect, often via oxidation. Common chemical bleaches include household chlorine bleach , lye, oxygen bleach , and bleaching powder...
, which placed at 19 and 20.
The Smithsonian National Museum of American History maintains a collection of Crayola crayons founded by an original 64-color box donated by Binney & Smith in 1998. The collection now includes more than 300 boxes of crayons.
The Crayola crayon was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame
National Toy Hall of Fame
The National Toy Hall of Fame is an American hall of fame that recognizes the contributions of toys and games that have sustained their popularity for many years...
as a founding member at its inception.
Crayola has been featured in segments from the popular children's shows Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, also known as Mister Rogers, is an American children's television series that was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. The series is aimed primarily at preschool ages, 2-5, but has been stated by Public Broadcasting Service as "appropriate for all ages"...
, with the official 100 billionth crayon molded by Fred Rogers himself in February 1996 at the plant in Easton.
Commemorative postage stamp
In 1998, the United States Postal ServiceUnited States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
issued a 32-cent postage stamp to commemorate the cultural impact the product has had on almost all Americans
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Although the crayons debuted in 1903 and the stamp is titled as such, the box depicted includes the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair
Louisiana Purchase Exposition
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the Saint Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States in 1904.- Background :...
Gold Medal insignia (dated MCMIV) won by Binney & Smith for their dustless chalk, so it can not be the original 1903 package design.
The stamp is part of the 1900s decade sheet of the Celebrate the Century
Celebrate the Century
Celebrate the Century is the name of a series of postage stamps made by the United States Postal Service featuring images recalling various important events in the 20th century in the United States....
souvenir sheet series, and was designed by Carl Herrman, illustrated by Richard Waldrep and printed by Ashton-Potter USA using the offset
Offset printing
Offset printing is a commonly used printing technique in which the inked image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface...
/intaglio
Intaglio (printmaking)
Intaglio is a family of printmaking techniques in which the image is incised into a surface, known as the matrix or plate, and the incised line or area holds the ink. Normally, copper or zinc plates are used as a surface, and the incisions are created by etching, engraving, drypoint, aquatint or...
process.
Crayola color census 2000
In 2000, Crayola held the "Crayola Color Census 2000" promotion in which Americans were asked to vote for their favorite Crayola crayon color. Celebrity entrants George W. BushGeorge W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
chose "Blue Bell," Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
chose "Wild Strawberry," and Courteney Cox Arquette chose "Red." Overall, "Blue" came in first, with "Cerulean" second and "Purple Heart" third. Full results are available here.
The Crayola factory
The Crayola factory is located at 30 Centre Square, Easton, PennsylvaniaEaston, Pennsylvania
Easton is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 26,800 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Northampton County....
, USA, at Two Rivers Landing, separate from the main manufacturing plant in the same city. The factory is open to the public. Despite its name, the factory is not a manufacturing plant, but rather a museum and visitor center geared toward familiarizing guests with Crayola's history and products.
The Crayola Factory was featured in a Food Network
Food Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
episode of Dinner: Impossible
Dinner: Impossible
Dinner: Impossible is an American television program broadcast by the Food Network. The first episode aired on January 24, 2007. Food Network began airing the eighth season on March 3, 2010....
. A dinner was held for 150 employees of the Crayola Factory to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 64 -box of crayons. Chef Michael Symon
Michael Symon
Michael D. Symon is a James Beard Foundation Award-winning American chef, restaurateur, television personality, and author. He is seen regularly on Food Network on shows such as Iron Chef America, Food Feuds, and The Best Thing I Ever Ate, as well as Cook Like an Iron Chef on the Cooking Channel...
's mission was to create an eight-course tasting menu for this event, where all eight items of the menu had to match eight randomly chosen Crayola crayon colors.
In October 2003, the Factory unveiled "The World's Largest Crayon," a 15-foot crayon weighing 1,500 lb as part of its celebration of 100 years of Crayola crayons. The giant crayon is blue, and was made of leftover crayon bits sent in by children across the United States.
From 2007 to 2009, Ryan Canfield served as the Factory's mascot, "Tip".
Fine art
Although marketed to children and amateur artists, several professional artists have specialized in using Crayola crayons as their primary medium. Don Marco, who works with Crayola crayons and construction paper, is one of the better known crayon artists — having sold over one million prints of his original artworks.Other products
Crayola LLC produces a broad range of products other than their famous crayons under the Crayola brand name. These include colored pencils, markers, inks and paints, modeling clays, coloring books, and artists' tools. As with all Crayola products, these are all marketed as nontoxic and safe for use by children.Silly Putty
Silly PuttySilly Putty
Silly Putty , is the Crayola-owned trademark name for a class of silicone polymers. It is marketed today as a toy for children, but was originally created by accident during research into potential rubber substitutes for use by the United States in World War II...
is a silicone
Silicone
Silicones are inert, synthetic compounds with a variety of forms and uses. Typically heat-resistant and rubber-like, they are used in sealants, adhesives, lubricants, medical applications , cookware, and insulation....
polymer
Polymer
A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units. These subunits are typically connected by covalent chemical bonds...
children's toy used for various purposes. Silly Putty was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame
National Toy Hall of Fame
The National Toy Hall of Fame is an American hall of fame that recognizes the contributions of toys and games that have sustained their popularity for many years...
in 2001.
Portfolio Series
The Portfolio Series is a line of water-soluble oil pastelOil pastel
Oil pastel is a painting and drawing medium with characteristics similar to pastels and wax crayons. Unlike "soft" or "French" pastel sticks, which are made with a gum or methyl cellulose binder, oil pastels consist of pigment mixed with a non-drying oil and wax binder...
s, watercolors, drawing pencils, colored pencils, and acrylic paint
Acrylic paint
Acrylic paint is fast drying paint containing pigment suspension in acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints can be diluted with water, but become water-resistant when dry...
s marketed to artists and educators.
Liquitex
Binney & Smith acquired the LiquitexLiquitex
Liquitex is a registred trademark for a brand of acrylic paints named using a portmanteau of the words "liquid" and "texture". The first water-based acrylic paint launched in 1955 by the company under this brand name was the first acrylic gesso, and colored liquid acrylic paints came one year later...
corporation, a producer of fine art supply products, in 1964, but sold it to the ColArt company in 2000.
Licensing
Numerous products, ranging from bath and personal care items to bedding and electronics, are produced by other companies using the Crayola brand name under license.Christmas Lights
In the 1996–1997 season, Crayola produced Christmas lights using its name with colors such as pink, orange, blue, gold, and red.Corporate information
Initially formed as a partnershipPartnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests.Since humans are social beings, partnerships between individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments, and varied combinations thereof, have always been and remain commonplace...
in 1885, Binney & Smith incorporated
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
in 1902. The corporation became a publicly-traded company under the symbol BYS on the American Stock Exchange
American Stock Exchange
NYSE Amex Equities, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange is an American stock exchange situated in New York. AMEX was a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was known as the New York Curb Exchange. On January 17, 2008, NYSE Euronext announced it would acquire the...
in 1963, and later moved to the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
under the same symbol in 1978. In 1984, the company was acquired by the Hallmark Cards
Hallmark Cards
Hallmark Cards is a privately owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce C. Hall, Hallmark is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was awarded the National Medal of Arts....
company, a privately held corporation. On 1 January 2007, the "Binney & Smith" moniker was retired in favor of the "Crayola LLC" corporate name to showcase the company's well-known brand, which is in use in more than 80 countries and had 99% name recognition in U.S. consumer households.
Manufacturing
Crayola has manufacturing plants in Forks Township, Northampton County, PennsylvaniaForks Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania
Forks Township is a township in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. Forks Township is located in the Lehigh Valley region of the state.The population of Forks Township was 8,419 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem is a city in Lehigh and Northampton Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 74,982, making it the seventh largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie,...
and Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.The colored pencils are made by Faber-Castell
Faber-Castell
Faber-Castell is one of the world's largest manufacturers of pens, pencils, other office supplies and art supplies, as well as high-end writing instruments and luxury leather goods...
Brazilian plants.
Financial data
Because Crayola LLC is a privately held company, it is not required to release detailed financial data publicly.External links
- Official site
- Official UK site
- Orange: A Crayola raw materials data sheet from the 1970s Smithsonian Institution Libraries