Saturday, February 26, 2011

Crayola Crayons

I found this vintage package of Crayola crayons in a desk drawer. I've no idea what year they were made, but they're the oldest Crayons I've got:

They're certainly not as old as the ones shown in these two sweet vintage advertisements from the 1920's:


Here's how the new Crayola 64 box looked in 1958:

This advertisement is from 1959. It looks to me as though the artist who created this ad could be the same person who drew the Betsy McCall paper dolls for McCall's magazine::
I also discovered that I had two unopened boxes of Crayola crayons tucked away, both of which I purchased in the 90's because they came in tins. I was kind of into collecting tins at the time:
A box of retired colors were included with one of the large 64-crayon assortments.
From left to right, the colors are: blue gray, green blue, maize, orange red, raw umber, orange yellow, violet blue, and lemon yellow.

So, um...if you ever want to come over and color with me, I have lots of crayons. I don't think I want to use the vintage box or my retired colors, though.
I THINK I might even have some coloring books around here somewhere....
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9 comments:

  1. JillFebruary 26, 2011 at 8:51 AM

    I love to color! I have a box of crayola crayons~ the big one with the built-in sharpener :) I would love to color with you!
    Hugs,
    Jill
    PS: In high school my friends and I dressed up as crayons. I was hot pink!

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  2. LorloreFebruary 26, 2011 at 9:07 AM

    Love to color! Still do with my grandsons! Soon as granddaughter is old enough, we will be over!!!

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  3. UnknownFebruary 26, 2011 at 2:16 PM

    O wow i have never seen them in a tin thats cool ;-)) Crayola holds many memories for us all i think, we have all used them at some time, I used to love to colour with my kids when they were little to. dee x

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  4. AnonymousFebruary 26, 2011 at 2:59 PM

    I love this post! It makes me want to color something outside the lines. Love T

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  5. farmladyFebruary 26, 2011 at 10:07 PM

    I love coloring and coloring books. I was always good at coloring within the confines of a page that was already drawn for me.
    I loved getting that new box of crayons on the first day of school. I loved their smell and the colors.
    Great post...
    Can I come over and color with you? I will bring my own crayons.

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  6. yosemite faithFebruary 27, 2011 at 3:34 PM

    i also love to color and love crayons. i remember when they first came out with the box of 50 (?) with the built in sharpner - i was in heaven - took them everywhere. i was so proud of them. love the tins you have and the retired colors -how fun heidi!

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  7. AnonymousApril 10, 2011 at 4:11 PM

    Which are the retired colors?
    Carpe Diem

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  8. Heidi AnnJune 1, 2011 at 4:03 PM

    Hi - The list of the retired colors can be found just above the last photo in the post, and they are listed as shown in the box from left to right. Thank you all for commenting.

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  9. Ed Welter, the crayon historianJune 30, 2017 at 10:10 AM

    The box you have retailed from 1955 to 1956 and then they changed the logo and removed that Gold Medal from the middle of the box (which they won in 1904). There is one very similar that has "Co." instead of "Inc" because Binney & Smith (before they were called Crayola) incorporated in 1955 and changed all their boxes.

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