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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.
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Comments (78)
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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
I too was a child of the 70s and remember having Flesh and Prussian Blue. Perhaps it is because Crayons have an incredibly long shelf life as long as they aren’t left in a sunny window.
posted by Space Cowgirl on 8-2-2009 at 2:47 am
I agree. Everyone should color. I am 42 and got a set of coloring books for Christmas not too many years ago. Very intricate designs and I’m still working on them, although I also like to use
* GASP * markers!
posted by Karen on 8-2-2009 at 7:17 am
I was born in the late 80s and I remember using Flesh…maybe my school system purchased a lot in bulk…What about Mac ‘N Cheese????
posted by Thomas on 8-2-2009 at 7:35 am
I totally agree with you Jem, I thought its ties to the Holocaust would seem like a more believable explanation.
posted by Sheila on 8-2-2009 at 9:09 am
Periwinkle was not necessarily my favorite color, but it was certainly the most fun to say. I am a therapist and when I did some couples’ counseling, I would use this word as a “time-out” word for the couples to utilize when they wanted to stop arguing. Always got laughs when a spouse would shout “PERIWINKLE!” at the other. I probably never would have heard of this color had it not been for Crayola.
I, too, remember Prussian Blue from my childhood and I grew up in the late 70s/early 80s. Wonder if my grandparents just had a really old box laying around? Come to think of it, flesh sound familiar, too.
My white crayon was always the sharpest and newest in the box . . . occasionally I would get my hands on some colored construction paper and I could use it.
Anyone remember scented crayons? Like they needed to encourage kids to put these things in their mouths??
Coloring is a great way to relax and recall the innocence of childhood. I would often assign coloring assignments to my adult clients/patients and they would tell me how fun it was to get a coloring book out to relieve some stress.
posted by Lori on 8-2-2009 at 9:09 am
Gotta agree that periwinkle is my favorite color. And I just wanted to share my reCAPTCHA: de-chaperon. Somehow appropriate for a crayon discussion! :-)
posted by C on 8-2-2009 at 9:32 am
I remember in 1990 they had a similar “name the color” promotion. Being in third grade, I was sad that “macaroni and cheese” got picked over my “unicorn horn” suggestion.
Income worthies for a CAPTCHA? Income worries would be more appropriate.
posted by rayne on 8-2-2009 at 10:23 am
I liked Blue-Gray, it had a nice subtle shade
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 8-2-2009 at 10:25 am
i am a big fan of crayola! i actually grew up near easton, pa and the awesome crayola factory. my fellow crayola lovers and i dressed as crayons for last halloween. it turned out really good, we even had party hats covered in our designated color to be the point. i was a white crayon and had the pointiest hat.
posted by Stina on 8-2-2009 at 1:04 pm
Cornflower blue is the most beautiful Crayola color.
You can always tell who grew up with a box of 64’s or who didn’t by the way they describe something. “That house is sage with maize trim” is what the former owner of a box of 64 will say. “That house is green with yellow trim” is what those poor unfortunate souls who only had the box of 24 or even worse just 8 (Oh! the humanity!). I have gifted several color deprived friends with a box of 64 or (even better 96!) and a sketch pad.
New Crayola smell is like a slice of heaven.
posted by Cynthia on 8-2-2009 at 2:32 pm
Purple Mountain’s Majesty was always my favorite. I loved it so much, I refused to use it. I was saving it for some other higher purpose besides coloring.
I was a strange kid.
posted by Brooke on 8-2-2009 at 6:43 pm
Bittersweet. Hated the color, loved the name.
And now, off to color!
posted by Kally on 8-2-2009 at 8:14 pm
Does anyone else remember robin’s egg blue? and tickle me pink? They came in the 64 box with the sharpener on the back!
posted by Lindsey on 8-2-2009 at 8:21 pm
Oh Food,
White has so many uses on other than white paper, for those of us that are creative. I also miss Maize. I need to get a new box of 64 colors to see what I’ve been missing! :)
posted by deb on 8-3-2009 at 12:07 am
Brooke, that’s not strange. I knew one or two friends that wouldn’t even use their new box of crayons because they looked so cool. They used the same box (old names and all, blunt ends and all) year after year and just looked at and showed off the cool box of unused crayons.
posted by deb on 8-3-2009 at 12:10 am
i was born in 84 and went to school in the 90’s and yup i was able to use “flesh” and i think i might still own a box w “flesh” and i did have the multicultural crayola box, i loved the little drawing in the front, it had the world, w kids from different countries drawn on it, ohhhhh i would also loved reading the back of the crayola boxes where they would show you different activities to make w the crayons and construction paper!!!! man i just wished i brought my sketch book and a box of crayons for vacation, but w airport security u cant even carry breast milk bummer lol
posted by alexia on 8-3-2009 at 4:46 am
I was born in 1971 and had flesh crayons too. The date in the story is either wrong or they rolled out the peach crayons very, very slowly.
posted by Jeanette on 8-3-2009 at 5:33 am
Crayons do last a long time, and could have been sitting around in a five-and-dime shop (or a school warehouse) for years.
Plus, there are plenty of other brands who tried to mimic the Crayola “look,” and it’s possible that some of these could explain the fact that certain color names were slow to have been retired.
posted by Sandy Wood on 8-3-2009 at 8:33 am
I am buying crayons on my way home from work tonight. I have some fun ones from the actual crayola store (the glittery metallic ones) but I need a box of 64! I wanna color now!
recaptcha: years barrow
Oh, and I’m an early 80s child who also used flesh colored crayons – and they definitely weren’t off brand.
posted by Hastings on 8-3-2009 at 10:01 am
It’s funny, all those Crayola colors but the crayons all taste the same.
posted by Tdave on 8-3-2009 at 11:54 am
Linked in my name is the video on Sesame Street about how Crayons are made. It was one of my favorite things ever on the show. And I’m not even that much of a colorer, though I do enjoy it on occasion.
posted by Dustin Fritsche on 8-3-2009 at 12:50 pm
I can honestly say I am happy to see red orange and orange red go. I wondered why they could never come up with more original names for these colors.
posted by Jamie on 8-3-2009 at 2:01 pm
Purple Mountains Majesty has been my favorite color ever since it came out. Er, favorite color name, my favorite color is blue (and range there of).
I just remember getting a crayon box after they just took the submissions for new color names. I expected everyone who had a color name picked to be my age or younger but ‘Purple Mountains Majesty” was submitted by a 98 year old woman. For some reason I found that really cool and the color name stuck with me since. The color is rather pretty too.
posted by Dazee on 8-3-2009 at 10:26 pm
Is Periwinkle still in the box?? I love that color! Is it blue, gray, purple? It’s awesome, that’s what it is! I painted my house periwinkle after I found an old one, broken in half, with wrapper barely intact (speckled with all the other colors of course). It was my favorite crayon that I kept hidden from my little sis. I found it in my old jewery box 2 years ago. I hid it in there at least 25 years ago. I had to melt it down so the Home Depot could do a paint match. My precious crayon made the ultimate sacrifice and now it lives on as a paint color on my house, LOL. Oh I still have the melted piece, I framed it. It’s always a fun story to tell when I have company :)
posted by Saryna on 8-4-2009 at 12:54 pm
@ rayne, i too remember the “name the color” contest and was disgusted over the macaroni and cheese entry. oh, i so wanted as an 8 year old to be one of the winners…alas, i was not.
mageneta has always been my favorite, maybe it is just because i love the way it sounds…
great post. thanks for making me feel like a kid again and appreciate the smaller things in life
posted by Kristen on 8-5-2009 at 6:17 pm
i seriously just looked at the site for a good 5 minutes…ahh the memories
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Crayola_crayon_colors
posted by Kristen on 8-5-2009 at 6:20 pm
i remember getting in trouble in kindergarden for telling people they weren’t black or white, but they were burnt sierra and peach LOL..thanks crayola
posted by Lisa on 8-16-2009 at 12:17 pm
..sorry burnt sienna
posted by Lisa on 8-16-2009 at 12:21 pm
I saw paint in a paint your own pottery place called “skin tone”. In Wisconsin, they are a bit slower on the political correctness. No mean to offend, I just noticed that people don’t seem to mind as much as say, Seattle.
posted by nh344 on 9-1-2009 at 7:08 pm
i was born in 1967 and can remember using “flesh” and “peach” (and we only ever had real crayola brand.) raw umber & burnt sienna were my least favorite colors, periwinkle, lemon yellow & robin’s egg blue were favorites. and blue grey was really pretty as well, sorry to see it go. and now i want to go out and buy the biggest box of crayons they make :-)
posted by butcherbaby on 9-9-2009 at 7:08 pm
Actually I have a box of 120 crayons.
I’m sad because the retirement of Blizzard Blue, now there are no flourescent blues! It was my favorite color!
Hope they create a new flourescent blue.
posted by JOSA on 9-20-2009 at 2:01 am
I always thought there should be 2 blacks in every box (maybe replace the white).
posted by Katie on 10-6-2009 at 5:15 pm
I am deeply saddened by the loss of Magic Mint. I made my first friend in Kindergarten due to a shared love of it’s unique green shade. These new generation Kindergarteners…
posted by Lauren on 10-6-2009 at 11:28 pm
I can’t exactely remember but didn’t Crayola make crayons that gave off a scent.
posted by Kari on 10-14-2009 at 10:35 pm
@ Kari – Yes, Crayola did indeed make scented crayons. My favorite was new car with dirt being a close second…
posted by JP on 10-18-2009 at 8:30 pm
I love burnt sienna how else was I suppose to find a color that matched my family so perfectly…
Brown… No.
Black…. Um big no.
posted by Chrystani on 10-23-2009 at 6:17 pm
I’ve been a Crayola fan all my life. I remember submitting a list of names for consideration, at the tender age of 6; none of which were picked up when I got my Giant Box of 96 that Christmas. Still, purple mountain’s majesty had a new fan, as did robin’s egg blue. I had a lot of my mother’s old crayons, so I had such hues as lemon yellow and maize (which I loved) at my disposal.
I really wish Crayola would make the Telescoping Tower of 150 the normal largest product, unretire all the retired colors, standardize and rename most of the metallic crayons, and add one more, that a child doesn’t name. Seriously. I love the shade of mango tango, but they really could have just used mango. (Or if they wanna go the fluorescent route, they could call it manic mango or something).
Really though, aside from jazzberry jam, the weird names of these colors isn’t a bad thing. I’m an English teacher now, and I realized recently just how much of my vocabulary was taught by Crayola. Thanks to them, I was the only Kindergartner with a working definition of pizzazz, vivid, radical, neon, or shocking. For similar reasons, I wish they’d rename midnight blue, Prussian blue. I only knew what Prussia was, because of my mom’s ancient Box of 48.
posted by Orson Zedd on 11-1-2009 at 8:02 pm
My box of 96 was pride and joy in elementary school. With the fancy sharpener in it, and some new colors at the time including Purple Mountains Majesty and some others. Flesh was definitely Peach when I came along, although I never liked it for skin colors.
Has anyone noticed how hard it is to find plain old coloring books nowadays? They’re all fancy “activity” books and have stickers and word searches and other nonsense. I grab them when I find them, though. I have the biggest coloring book collection of any 23 year old I know! I think it was always sort of a compensation thing for me. I can’t draw at ALL, but dang it, I can color!
posted by Loramir on 11-12-2009 at 5:01 pm