It started with a mixture of charcoal and oil. Boring. Then came the industrial revolution and two cousins, Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith, who were already killing it in the industrial pigment game with things like red oxide for barns and carbon black for tires. But they had this itch to do something smaller. Something for kids.
Basically, the coloring implement since 1903 isn’t just a stick of wax; it’s a massive cultural touchpoint that survived two world wars, the Great Depression, and the rise of the iPad. Honestly, it’s kinda wild that a company based in Easton, Pennsylvania, managed to make a smell—that distinct, slightly waxy, beef-tallow-adjacent scent—one of the most recognizable odors in the world.
Researchers at Yale University actually found that the scent of these crayons is the 18th most recognizable smell to American adults. That’s more recognizable than cheese or coffee. Think about that for a second.
The 1903 breakthrough and the name nobody could pronounce
Before 1903, kids were using slate pencils or very expensive, brittle Italian wax sticks that were mostly just for "real" artists. If you were a student, you were basically out of luck if you wanted to draw in color without making a massive mess. Binney & Smith saw the gap. They’d already developed a dustless school chalk (which won a gold medal at the St. Louis World’s Fair, by the way), so they knew the education market was hungry for tools that didn't ruin clothes or lungs.
The name "Crayola" wasn’t some corporate committee decision. Alice Binney, Edwin’s wife and a former schoolteacher, literally mashed two French words together: craie (chalk) and oleagineux (oily).
It worked.
The first box sold for a nickel. It had eight colors: black, brown, blue, red, violet, orange, yellow, and green. That’s it. No "Atomic Tangerine" or "Laser Lemon." Just the basics. You’ve probably seen those vintage boxes in museums or antique shops—they look more like tea tins than the bright yellow boxes we see today.
🔗 Read more: Why a Black and White Photo Still Hits Harder Than Color
Why the formula hasn't really changed (mostly)
People often ask what’s actually in a coloring implement since 1903. The short answer? Paraffin wax and pigment. The long answer is a bit more complicated because of the safety standards that kicked in later.
In the early days, you could put almost anything in a pigment. Lead? Sure. Cadmium? Why not? But as the 20th century rolled on, the industry had to get serious about non-toxicity. Today, the wax is heated and mixed with pigments that are strictly regulated. The mixture is then poured into molds, cooled with water, and labeled by a machine that wraps the paper around the stick twice. Why twice? To keep the crayon from snapping under the literal "heavy-handedness" of a frustrated six-year-old.
There was a minor controversy years ago about the use of beef tallow (stearic acid) in the wax, which gives it that specific smell and smooth glide. While it makes the crayons incredibly stable, it did spark some debate among vegan families. It’s one of those nuance things—most people don't think about the fact that their childhood art supplies are essentially a byproduct of the cattle industry.
The "Flesh" fiasco and social evolution
You can't talk about this specific coloring implement since 1903 without mentioning the "Flesh" color. In 1962, amidst the rising Civil Rights Movement, the company realized that labeling a peach-colored crayon as "Flesh" was, to put it mildly, problematic. It suggested that there was only one skin tone that counted as the "standard."
They changed it to "Peach."
It took another few decades—until 1992—for them to introduce the "Multicultural" pack, and even more recently, the "Colors of the World" line in 2020. This wasn't just a marketing gimmick. They actually partnered with Victor Casale, the former Chief Chemist at MAC Cosmetics, to develop 24 new skin-tone shades. They used actual cosmetic chemistry to find the right undertones (rose, almond, golden) because kids were literally scraping different crayons together to try and match their own skin.
It’s a perfect example of how a 120-year-old product has to evolve or die. If you stay static, you become a relic. If you listen to the kids using the product, you stay relevant.
A quick look at the color explosion
- 1903: 8 colors.
- 1949: 48 colors (the "Big Box" era begins).
- 1958: 64 colors (the iconic box with the built-in sharpener).
- 1993: 96 colors (The Big 96).
- Today: Over 120 standard colors, plus glitters, neons, and metallics.
The collector's market is actually insane
You might think a coloring implement since 1903 is just trash once it’s broken, but the "Crayon Collector" community is real. People hunt for the 1958 "64-box" with the original sharpener intact. They look for the 1903 "Gold Medal" tins.
There’s even a whole subset of people obsessed with "retired" colors. In 1990, for the first time ever, the company retired eight colors to make room for newer, brighter ones. People were devastated. We’re talking about "Maize," "Lemon Yellow," and "Raw Umber." There was even a group called the "Crayon Restoration Organization" (C.R.O.P.) that protested the retirement. It sounds silly, but people have deep emotional attachments to these specific shades of wax. They represent specific moments in time.
Digital vs. Analog: The fight for the table
Every few years, someone writes an article claiming that physical art supplies are dead because every kid has a tablet. They’re usually wrong.
There is a tactile feedback you get from a coloring implement since 1903 that a stylus simply cannot replicate. It's about "resistance." When a kid pushes a crayon onto paper, they learn fine motor control. They learn how much pressure results in a darker line. They learn that if they push too hard, the tool breaks. That’s a physical lesson in physics and consequence that a "delete" button doesn't provide.
Adult coloring books also gave the industry a massive second wind around 2015. Suddenly, it wasn't just for kids. It was "art therapy." Stress relief. A way to get off the screen. For a few years there, you couldn't walk into a bookstore without seeing floor-to-ceiling displays of intricate mandalas and "swear word" coloring books. The humble wax stick was suddenly a wellness product.
What you should actually look for in a quality crayon
If you're actually buying these for a kid (or yourself), don't buy the off-brand "restaurant" crayons. You know the ones. They come in a little cellophane pack of three, they're waxy as heck, and they barely leave any color on the page. They have a high wax-to-pigment ratio because it's cheaper.
A high-quality coloring implement since 1903 should feel heavy for its size and have a high pigment load. If you have to press down so hard that the paper tears just to see a faint blue line, it's trash. Real quality crayons use a blend of high-grade paraffin and stearic acid that allows for "layering." You should be able to put blue over yellow and actually see a green-ish tint emerge, rather than the two colors just sliding over each other.
How to fix a broken favorite
Don't throw them away. Honestly. You can peel the paper off the stubs, put them in a silicone muffin tin, and bake them at 200°F (about 93°C) for 15 minutes. You get these cool, multi-colored "mega-crayons" that are actually easier for toddlers to grip. It’s a classic move, but it’s still the best way to handle the inevitable "snap" that happens to every box.
Getting the most out of your art supplies
To truly appreciate what's happened in the world of the coloring implement since 1903, you have to stop treating them like disposable toys. If you want to level up your (or your kid's) art game, try these specific techniques that go beyond just staying inside the lines.
- Sgraffito: Cover a whole page in bright colors. Then, cover that entire layer with a heavy coat of black crayon. Take a paperclip or a tooth pick and scratch a drawing into the black layer. The colors underneath pop through like neon signs.
- Wax Resist: Draw a design with a white crayon on white paper. It looks like nothing is there. Then, paint over it with watercolors. The wax repels the water, and your "invisible" drawing magically appears.
- Encaustic light: You can technically melt crayons into "paint," but be careful. It's essentially a simplified version of the ancient encaustic painting technique used by the Greeks.
Instead of just buying the biggest box and dumping it into a bin, try organizing them by "temperature." Put the reds, oranges, and yellows together. Put the blues, greens, and purples together. It teaches basic color theory without feeling like a lesson.
The reality is that while technology changes every six months, the coloring implement since 1903 has stayed remarkably consistent. It’s a stick of color that doesn’t need a battery, doesn't need a firmware update, and works exactly the same way it did when your great-grandparents were in school. There’s something deeply comforting about that kind of reliability.
Next Steps for Your Art Collection
- Check your existing stash: Sort through your current box and pull out any that have "bloom"—that white, powdery oxidation. It’s not mold; it’s just the wax reacting to temperature. You can wipe it off with a soft cloth to restore the color.
- Test the "Rub Test": Take a high-quality crayon and a cheap knock-off. Rub them on the same piece of paper. If the cheap one feels "slick" and leaves a faint line, it's high in paraffin and low in pigment.
- Upgrade your paper: If you're still using standard printer paper, try switching to a "toothier" construction paper or cardstock. The extra texture helps pull more pigment off the crayon, making your colors look 10x more vibrant.