Day 74
This blog has, unwittingly, become a sort of confessional for me. In past posts I have bared my soul and divulged my innermost secrets (well, a few anyway) … and today I have another.
I am a crayon snob.
Oh, man … I feel sooo much better getting that off my chest! It has been weighing heavily on me for the past 50 years!
And if I can be a crayon snob … I guess I could also be considered, in a more positive light, a crayon connoisseur.
And my apologies to Prang and Elmer’s and all the generic crayon products out there (like trying to color with a candle!) … there is simply nothing like a Crayola crayon.
Nothing.
My heartfelt thanks (and kudos) go out to those creative cousins Edward Binney and C. Harold Smith, the co-inventors of Crayola crayons back in 1903. And kudos to Alice, Ed’s wife, for coming up with the name – a combination of the french words chalk (craie) and oily (oleaginous). Trivia tidbits for your next cocktail party!
And it’s not just that Crayola has the best texture … but they have the BEST smell. Other brands might come close but Crayola has a distinct aroma and it stirs my soul. Seriously. I’m stressed and I open the lid on a pristine box of Crayola 64’s and … ahhhh. My blood pressure goes down a few numbers and my muscles relax and it’s … bliss! SO much better than meditation or yoga!
I think this love affair started long before I can actually remember. I was a big time colorer as a kid. I was also sickly, so being in bed with coloring books and crayons was a wonderful way to pass the time.
I had a favorite coloring book and about a year ago I found a similar one and bought it and have been known to color a page or two in the middle of a work day! The book? Fred Flintstone and friends! How I loved to color Wilma and Betty’s fur dresses and rock necklaces! (I was also a jewelry maniac as a youngster. I was the only 4 year old I know that could (and would) lug around a beaded satchel full of 10 pounds of costume jewelry!) Anyway, those stone necklaces were awesome!
Growing up we lived next door to the inventor of the crayon sharpener in that 64 crayon box of Crayola crayons! My hero! I mean, really … who wants to color with a rounded crayon?!
There are still days when I look out to the sky and think … ahh, periwinkle … and I think of that crayon and wonder how many I’ve used in my lifetime! I liked the names of the crayons back in that original 64 collection the best … Copper, Melon, Orchid, Spring Green, Magenta. Ahhh … my friends!
When the crayons debuted, 109 years ago, there were 8 colors in the box … Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, Orange, Black, Violet and Brown. Since then there have been over 120 core colors and a few more being discontinued or having name changes along the way.
The Flesh color underwent a name change in 1962 to Peach due to the Civil Right’s Movement. Prussian Blue was changed to Midnight Blue. Indian Red was renamed Chestnut in 1999 due to the misconception that it was named after the color of Native American skin rather than a pigment found near India to color paints.
Fluorescents were added in the early 70’s and they, too, underwent a more kid-friendly name change in 1990 (for example from Ultra Green to Screamin’ Green).
In 1990 some of the crayon colors were “retired” (and enshrined in the Crayola Hall of Fame) leaving room for newer, more updated and creative names like Cerulean and Dandelion. Around that time consumers were asked to submit new names and 16 new colors were added at that time, as well.
In the late 90’s 24 new colors were added (such as Manatee, Eggplant and Shadow) and a few more in 2003 bringing the number up to 120 colors that are currently available.
Wow … I’m feeling outdated! I think I need to run to Target and get me a new box … I thought I was doing so well with just 64!