The History of Crayons

 

        Ever heard of the French term "chalk pencil"? That's French for Crayons. Everyone loves to color with crayons. It's therapeutic, fun and brings out the creativity in self. But what is the history of crayons? Who invented them and where did they come from? 

  Back in the Roman era, they would use beeswax or even charcoal and other stuff to color or paint. Crayons didn't come around until someone had a brilliant idea of using wax pastels and making a portrait or even just coloring for enjoyment.

   Coloring books came out as people decided to create themes or characters in white paper for children, or adults, to color in. It doesn't matter if the color is accurate, it just had to be fun. They even used themes like Smurfs, Barbie, Hot Wheels anything kids are into. They would grab a crayon and start to color.

    There were different crayon brands. Rose Art being one of them. Some of their crayons would be considered cheap and break easily. There were other brands that came with a coloring book, but there was one brand that would stand out as one of the best sold crayons to this date. With the company stationed in Northern Pennsylvania, this crayon company is one of the best crayons ever to come out of this universe.

  Crayola was started by two men in 1885 in Forks Township, Pennsylvania. Binnery and Smith used products that would create their award-winning crayons. Mostly iron oxide and even carbon black. They used an interesting wax for their creation of the crayons and products started becoming popular with their famous 8 pack crayons that came out around 1900. 

  

    Binnery and Smith with the Crayola company until they sold it to Hallmark in 1984 (they were long dead by then, but the company was sold to Hallmark) They started making interesting color names which some were eventually retired. Their company is now located in Easton, Pennsylvania where they also were known for creating the world's largest crayon in 2003.

    Crayola is still around today and has created a rainbow of colors and different styles of crayons. Some that are washable, some that are even 64 to 96. 120 pack is their largest with the most crayons with interesting names. They even have scented crayons (which vary from smell to smell) They even sell coloring books. Crayola is one of the largest distributers of crayons to date.

     Even though Crayola is the largest distributer of crayons, it doesn't mean there are other brands of crayons that are still around. Maybe not as popular as Crayola is, it still means they try to create art for anyone willing to be creative. I love to color in my spare time and using Crayola crayons are the way to go. Learning from how they were made to today, crayons are considered a useful tool for anyone inspired to get creative.