History Of Crayola - The Story Of Crayola

Here is an edited version of the History Of Crayola, highlighting the important milestones in Crayola's history.

1903 - Crayola® Brand Is Born

Noticing a need in schools for safe and affordable wax crayons, Binney & Smith makes the first box of eight Crayola crayons. The box sold for a nickel and contained black, brown, blue, red, violet, orange, yellow and green - the same colors in the box of eight today.
The Crayola name was coined by Alice Binney, wife of company founder Edwin and a former school teacher. It comes from "craie," the French word for "chalk," and "ola," for "oleaginous," or "oily."

1948 - Teaching Teachers
To help art teachers learn about the many ways to use the growing number of Crayola products, a teacher workshop program begins to offer in-school training across the country. It continues today.

1958 - 64 Brilliant Colors
The Crayola 64 Box with its signature built-in sharpener debuts, becoming the perennial favorite of Crayola colorers for more than 40 years.

Name Change
Prussian blue, the first Crayola crayon color to get a new name, becomes "midnight blue." Teachers prompted the change, as children could no longer relate to Prussian history.

1962 - Melting Pot
The company renames the flesh crayon "peach" to recognize that not everyone's skin color is the same. 1990 - Eight Hues and a Cry For the first time in Crayola history eight colors are retired. Maize, lemon yellow, blue gray, raw umber, green blue, orange red, orange yellow and violet blue are enshrined in the Crayola Hall of Fame.

1992 - Color Your World
Crayola multicultural crayons, an assortment of skin tone-based colors that let children more accurately color themselves, are introduced.

Now You See It. Now You Don't.
Crayola brings washability - an all-new innovation to crayons - with the first crayons that wash off walls.

1996 - A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Fred Rogers of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" molds the 100 billionth Crayola crayon, named "blue ribbon."

Colorful Characters
The Crayola FACTORY® family discovery center opens in Easton, Pa., with the Crayola ColorJam parade - the largest gathering of people with color in their names.

1998 - A Classic Turns 40
The Crayola 64 Box is reintroduced in its original packaging, complete with builtin sharpener. A 1958 Crayola 64 Box becomes part of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.

1999 - What's in a Name? For only the third time in Crayola history a crayon is renamed. Indian red becomes "chestnut."

2000 - Stand Up and Be Counted! The Crayola Color Census, the first online poll of consumers' favorite Crayola colors, is launched. Blue ranks #1 and six shades of blue - cerulean, midnight blue, aquamarine, periwinkle, denim and blizzard blue - finish in the top 10.

2000 - House Beautiful Mess free art makes moms happy! Color Wonder™, a brand new coloring and drawing technology, is launched. Colorless ink inside Color Wonder Markers pops into living color only on special paper - not walls, skin or clothing.

2002 - New Life for Leftolas
Kids can now melt down old crayons and make new ones with the Crayola® Crayon Maker. Named Best Toy of the Year by magazine, the first toy of its kind gives new life to "leftolas."

Do the Twist
No more sharpening, no more peeling. Crayola Twistables™ - crayons in plastic tubes that twist up more color when the tips wear down - become a back-toschool hit.

Window Decorating
Windows and mirrors become a new canvas for kids' creativity. Window FX markers leave a mark as one of the best-selling new Crayola products in '02.

2003 - Happy 100th Birthday!
The Crayola brand celebrates 100 years of making the world a more colorful place for children. Four new colors of the next century were introduced and named by crayon fans. Welcome "inch worm," "mango tango," "wild blue yonder" and "jazzberry jam!"

Bidding Adieu to Four Hues
To make room for these new shades, some old favorites get pink slips! Farewell to blizzard blue, magic mint, mulberry and teal blue. Burnt sienna gets to stay in the box, thanks to more than 60,000 crayon aficionados who voted to "save the shade." The newly-retired shades join eight other veterans -- including blue gray, raw umber, lemon yellow and maize -- in our Crayola Centennial tins.

A Hearty Party
Kids across the country got to join in the 100th Birthday celebration when the Crayola ART-rageous Adventure Tour took to the highways and brought the birthday party to cities across the country.

One For The Books
The World's Largest Crayon was unveiled at our 100th Birthday party in Easton, Pa., on Oct. 11. Breaaking the old Guinness record of 10 feet, the World's Largest Crayola Crayon weighed in at 1,500 lbs., 15 feet high, 16 inches wide, in America's favorite color -- blue.