Colors

I chose this photo because today is National Crayon Day!  Crayola began its life as a company in 1885 when cousins Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith took over a pigment business that Edwin’s father had previously owned. By 1903, the cousins had created a set of colorful drawing sticks for young artists by combining paraffin wax with non-toxic, kid-friendly pigments. While children had often used chalk or paints for drawing, those were both messy. Crayola came up with their brilliant solution–and it has lasted for more than a century! 

The name Crayola seems to have come from a combination of two words created by the founder’s wife. It combined craie, which was French for “chalk” and oily, to create the company’s brand name. 

The first set only contained 8 crayons, but now the boxes have gotten much larger with many more colors. Since the beginning, the company has developed a core set of 120 crayon colors; but they have also come out with many unique sets. This includes metallic colored crayons, gem tones colors, and even scented ones. One important development made by the company was a box of skin tones that make it possible to color pictures of humans of almost any cultural background.

Crayola makes 12 million crayons A DAY!!  https://www.crayola.com/