Each TOY or GAME has a STORY to share with kids.
Today, it’s the CRAYON’s turn to tell its story (with a little help from Grandma Sharon)…
WHAT are CRAYONS: To answer this question, Grandma Sharon went right to the source… Crayola.com…
The basic ingredients contained in Crayola Crayons are paraffin wax and color pigment. The ingredients are the same for all Crayola Crayon colors, with some modifications in special effects crayons. We manufacture almost 3 billion crayons each year.
The paraffin wax is melted and mixed together with pre-measured amounts of color pigments. We purchase the powder pigments and either use individual colors or mix the pigments to produce the many colors of Crayola Crayons. The hot wax mixture is poured into molding machines. In about four to seven minutes, the crayons cool and become solid.
WHO invented CRAYONS, and WHEN, WHERE & WHY: The most well-known, popular and reputed BEST Crayons are the Crayola Crayons brand and were invented in 1903 by two cousins, Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith.
Binney and Smith had formed a partnership named Binney and Smith Company in 1885, and this company produced such things as shoe polish and printing ink. In 1900, Binney and Smith expanded to the production of slate pencils for schools. Binney and Smith got very involved in the production of school supplies in their plant in Easton, PA.
Slate pencils lead to research of drawing utensils for children. Binney and Smith were interested in inventing a wax crayon without toxic materials such as carbon black, commonly used in crate and barrel markers.
Their research paid off, and in 1903 Binney and Smith developed a brand of superior, safe and affordable crayons that would take the world by storm.
But what about a name for these crayons? Ah! That was created by Edwin Binney’s wife, Alice, who combined the 2 French words craie and oleaginous, meaning chalk and oily = Crayola.
Crayola Crayons were born. The brand’s first box of crayons contained 8 crayons in 8 colors… black, brown, blue, red, purple, orange, yellow and green. The box was sold for a nickle!
And the rest is colorful history.
Do you remember your first box of Crayola Crayons?
Get your kids and grandkids a couple of brand new boxes of Crayons… and feel like a kid again yourself. Let your kids in on the STORY of Crayons, and let the “ta-dah!” of creativity begin.
Join me here each day in July for TOY STORIES on 365 Days of Literacy for Kids! A little fun, a little learning and a little “ta-dah!”
