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By Paul Davidson. Cousins Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith introduced their first eight Crayola crayons in 1903. Since then, the world has changed, and so, too, have the names of their waxy creations. Be it ever-shifting societal, racial, or political atmospheres, these crayons of yore have a revisionist history unto themselves.
1. “Flesh” Crayons Change Their Name
While everyone acknowledges that the civil rights movement brought about great strides in American society, most individuals overlook the huge advances it brought to the crayon community. In 1962, Crayola voluntarily changed Flesh to Peach in an attempt to avoid any legal issues and encourage people to embrace seeing the world in black and peach.
2. Prussian Blue receives Icy Treatment
The Kingdom of Prussia (part of modern-day Germany and Poland) remained an independent state from 1701 to 1871, but the crayon dubbed Prussian Blue had a far shorter reign in the kingdom of colors. Introduced in 1949 alongside a cadre of 39 new cohorts, Prussian Blue was unceremoniously stripped of its name in 1958, after teachers continued to voice concerns that the crayon wasn’t Cold War–sensitive. Crayola hoped the color’s new name, Midnight Blue, would help make it less political and certainly less useful in coloring Iron Curtains.
3. Indian Red was a nod to India?!
Introduced in 1958 with 15 additional colors (finally giving children 64 shades to work with!), this color was actually named for a pigment that originated in India. Over the years, teachers began to worry that children would see the crayon as a reference to American Indians’ skin color. In 1999, the Crayola company changed the name to Chestnut—but that too came with a disclaimer. The crayon manufacturer warned children that, despite the famous song, these chestnuts should never be roasted over an open fire. Mainly because they soften and melt at around 105 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. Eight Men Out: Colors Get Waxed Off
The year 1990 brought about the first forced retirement of colors in the house of Crayola. And just like that, old fogies Blue Gray, Green Blue, Lemon Yellow, Maize, Orange Red, Orange Yellow, Raw Umber, and Violet Blue were sent out to waxy pastures. They were replaced with new-generation colors including Cerulean, Fuchsia, and Dandelion, which were considered bolder, more vibrant, and more likely to boost your Scrabble® score.
5. Kindergarteners Get Drunk with Power
In celebration of Crayola’s 100th birthday in 2003, consumers were encouraged to suggest new crayon names as well as vote out four crayon colors. The casualties of the Crayola tribal council were newer colors Blizzard Blue, Magic Mint, and Teal Blue, and the older Mulberry. These proud veterans stepped aside for such wildly creative crayons as Inch Worm, Jazzberry Jam, Mango Tango and Wild Blue Yonder—proving that allowing kindergarteners to have veto power over your marketing department isn’t always the best idea.
I dunno, Maize seems like it would be a pretty high scoring word, even without the bingo bonus.
posted by Jacquilynne on 8-1-2008 at 10:13 am
I was not disappointed to see the demise of raw umber. Ugly name, ugly color. But maize…I was so sad to see that one go. I always liked lemon yellow, as well.
The one that always puzzled me was cornflower. I LOVED the color, but the texture of the color on the paper was different than the other crayons, somehow. Almost transluscent. Is cornflower still around?
posted by bre on 8-1-2008 at 10:44 am
Maize and Raw Umber (Burnt Umber?) have been discontinued? What buttmaggotry is this?!?
As long as Gold, Silver, and Copper are still around, hope remains.
And White. Gotta have White. Something that calls attention to itself just for its very uselessness is to be cherished. Serious, did ANYBODY ever actually USE that thing?
posted by Food on 8-1-2008 at 10:49 am
Peach? Aw, c’mon, they should have called it “Caucasian…”
posted by Li on 8-1-2008 at 10:59 am
White Por Vida.
How else can you draw ghosts?
Or color on Easter Eggs before you dye ‘em?
posted by Kristyn on 8-1-2008 at 11:03 am
It’s interesting there are so many “maize” devotees out there. I always liked it too–every blonde person I drew had maize hair. So much more realistic than yellow! :)
I did love cerulean though, and as a second grader, I decided it would be one of my wedding colors (even though I had a lot of trouble pronouncing it). This probably won’t happen, but I’m still a fan of the crayon!
Also, “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” is now stuck in my head, which is wildly inappropriate since it’s 95 degrees out and I want no part of any fire! So thanks for that tidbit in the article…
posted by kate on 8-1-2008 at 11:06 am
I just bought a box of 64 crayons for the celebration of the 50th birthday of the 64 crayon box (and so I could officially act 1/3 my age!). Inside this box were 8 special crayons that were “kids’ choice colors” and included these neon colors: happy ever after (blue), super happy (yellow), best friends (purple), awesome (pink), famous (purple-pink), fun in the sun (orange), giving tree (green), and bear hug (grey).
Oh, and Food…I use my white crayon all the time. But, I think I’m the only one. :)
posted by Alex on 8-1-2008 at 11:10 am
The newer names for classic colors are kinda dorky, like they’re naming new flavors of soda pop; the only thing missing is deliberate misspelling.
Even worse, they’re inaccurate. Bear Hug is GREY?!? I’d think it’d be red with gristle-colored swirls. And as an 80s kid who never did like Miami Vice, I’ll tell ya right now that pink is NOT awesome!
Someone finding a use for White, on the other hand, IS awesome.
posted by Food on 8-1-2008 at 11:34 am
The cheaper the coloring book = the better the color white will show up and be put to use.
posted by mrs.djs on 8-1-2008 at 11:53 am
As long as they never get rid of my beloved Seafoam.
posted by LP on 8-1-2008 at 11:54 am
They got rid of Mulberry?? Oh noez!
And now I totally crave roasted chestnuts…
posted by mandapanda on 8-1-2008 at 11:54 am
I never found peach to be a very fleshy color. I always used apricot when I colored myself using Crayolas. I prefered another brand because all of the colors were properly waxy while Crayolas had some weird chalky colors that I didn’t like the feel of.
posted by S on 8-1-2008 at 12:01 pm
Best color ever: Burnt Sienna
posted by The Other Brian on 8-1-2008 at 12:12 pm
White came in handy on construction paper.
First time I ever got a cool reCaptcha: of Deutsche.
Ja! Das bier ist gut. (About all I remember from 3 semesters of college German.)
posted by Ms B on 8-1-2008 at 12:57 pm
I think the only use for white is to mix it with other colors.
At least that’s the only use I could think of to that color.
posted by Diego on 8-1-2008 at 1:15 pm
There were several groups formed in protest when some of those old colors were discontinued. RUMPS (Raw Umber and Maize Preservation Society) and CRAYON (Committee to Restore All Your Old Norms)
posted by Suzeo on 8-1-2008 at 1:29 pm
What about Crayola’s multicultural crayon box? All God’s children like to colour themselves. It’s pretty awesome.
just go to the Crayola site and search multicultural.
I love the colours and smells of crayons, I have boxes stashed all over the house.
More uses for white:
- spooky Halloween scenes on black construction paper
- Magic ocean - draw an ocean scene with white, then paint over with thinned blue and green paints.
- You can also write secret messages for painting over.
Great idea about the Easter Eggs, Kristyn!
Other fun crayon project:
Fill a small sheet of paper with solidly coloured in polygons of colour. Colour over the whole thing with black crayon. Then etch out your rainbow picture with a bent paper clip.
Happy colouring!
recaptcha: book stroll
Good advice.
posted by Marion on 8-1-2008 at 1:34 pm
Now I’m wondering about the age of the crayons I had as a child … I was born in 1976, but I distinctly remember coloring with “Flesh” and “Prussian Blue” crayons. I can’t believe that my parents would have kept their childhood crayons to pass on to me!
posted by Amy on 8-1-2008 at 3:22 pm
yay!! i love crayola crayons!! i actually have a collection (including a box of 64 from the 80s and a box of 8 from the 30s), and in college i made a timeline of crayola colors as part of a project. i have to say, the most useless color i’ve come across comes in the newer boxes of 120 colors, it’s called “pig pink” and it’s the worst color ever. i haven’t bought a new box of crayons in about 3 years though, so maybe they got rid of it.
posted by tami on 8-1-2008 at 3:32 pm
yeah! what the heck was wrong with cornflower?!?
posted by kp on 8-1-2008 at 3:43 pm
Now that I think about it, I don’t see how Prussian Blue could be faulted for not being “Cold-War-sensitive.” Prussia was already nonexistent by the time the Cold War began, so what was the problem?…**shrug**…Stupid ’50s-era teachers.
posted by Food on 8-1-2008 at 4:11 pm
It happened in third grade…
I told my teacher that “Thistle” (a lovely pink, Crayola creation) was my favorite color. She explained that “Thistle” is not a color.
You did this, Crayola.
posted by Mari on 8-1-2008 at 4:45 pm
Was it really teachers who complained of Prussian Blue not being Cold-War sensitive? That kind of reactionary thinking is usually reserved for school boards and some members of the PTA.
Not not being Geographically sensitive would make sense for teachers to complain.
posted by mungley on 8-1-2008 at 4:45 pm
I work in retail and one day I stumbled upon a box of ‘Multicultural Crayons’ that crayola had made it contained all skin toned colors from white, tan, beige, dark brown, black, etc. I had never seen these before and bought the only box we had (.32, they were a salvage product). I had a few chuckles about it but never seen them again in the store.
posted by jodie on 8-1-2008 at 4:49 pm
Cerulean is just one of the most fun colors to say.
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 8-1-2008 at 5:58 pm
My mother bought me, at 38, a box of 64 for Christmas last year. Everyone should color, she says. In any case, I just broke into the box for the first time and am enjoying the smell and new colors. Just found ‘purple mountains majesty’. Maybe she’s right - we should all color.
posted by Jim on 8-1-2008 at 5:59 pm
“Jazzberry Jam?”
Yeah, definitely not the best idea letting kindergarteners name…well, anything there.
And why is “Inch Worm” two words?
posted by Delia on 8-2-2008 at 12:58 am
Yeah, definitely not the best idea letting kindergarteners name…well, anything there.
I agree Delia, my pre-schooler thinks she will be naming our new baby. It’s hard to convince her that she actually has no say in it. She wants to name the baby after herself, boy or girl…
posted by Fiona on 8-2-2008 at 1:54 am
I definitely remember having a “Flesh” coloured crayon back in the 80’s. I must have had an old box.
posted by Shawn on 8-2-2008 at 6:37 am
I don’t know. Wild Blue Yonder is actually pretty cool.
(But I am mourning Mulberry at the expense of this Mango Tango/Jazzberry Jam nonsense. At least Inch Worm sounds like something a kid might come up with. The rest sound like fruit roll-up flavors.)
posted by TinLizzie on 8-2-2008 at 9:00 am
So they confused “Prussia” with “Russia”? That’s… really pathetic.
I always thought “Flesh” referred to flesh, not to skin. And underneath we’re all the same.
posted by Nella on 8-2-2008 at 2:37 pm
Amy, I had the same thought. I was born in 1978 and I swear I used Flesh and Prussian Blue. I suppose I could have been using old crayons at my grandmother’s, but I really think they were still current at that time. Am I crazy?
posted by Rachel on 8-2-2008 at 4:53 pm
What’s up with Prussian Blue? It’s a standard color in paints to this day, and it was always one of my favorites. Cornflower did have a weird texture, like one of those really cheap dimestore crayons.
And white - white! Great for snowy days. Draw your picture on blue or gray paper, then lay the white crayon flat and coat the paper.
posted by Caillie on 8-2-2008 at 5:19 pm
After reading this, I just had to dig out the 64 pack of crayons I bought as an adult (could never get my parents to get the big box with the sharpener!). Checked the date, and it’s a 1990 box, so the “flesh” crayon is definitely renamed.
I do recall vividly using the flesh crayon in the ’70s, though….
Now I want to color something! =)
posted by Dawn on 8-2-2008 at 6:56 pm
Aw, come on, Prussian blue is a standard color for artists’ paints!
White is good for snow; just color your pictures and go over it with a layer of white.
posted by Caillie on 8-2-2008 at 9:51 pm
Thought Prussian Blue would have been dumped as it has links to Nazi Holocaust, which many would find disturbing.
posted by Jem on 8-3-2008 at 8:23 am
White is awesome for blending and smoothing other colors. I always go through white the fastest in my box. And I remember using flesh in the 70s too.
posted by Angelia on 8-3-2008 at 11:51 pm
Teal and Mulberry were my two favorite colors — I had no idea that kindergardeners killed them.
No wonder The Boy refuses to use them.
posted by Anne on 8-4-2008 at 2:04 am
And yet they haven’t renamed King of Prussia, PA. Go figure.
posted by fixedgear on 8-6-2008 at 2:05 pm
Best color: periwinkle. I’m not a fan of pastels anymore, but I still love it.
posted by sf_iris on 9-22-2008 at 8:34 pm