Crayola Crayons
date: label: Date made
content: 1903
name: label: maker
content: Binney and Smith
notes: label: Description
content: Cherished by generations of child artists, Crayola crayons were invented in 1903 by the Binney & Smith Company of Easton, Pennsylvania. Using paraffin wax and nontoxic pigments, the company produced a coloring stick that was safe, sturdy, and affordable. The name "Crayola," coined by the wife of the company's founder, comes from "craie," French for "chalk," and "oleaginous," or "oily."
label: Description
content: This Crayola set for "young artists" was one of the earliest produced. Its twenty-eight colors include celestial blue, golden ochre, rose pink, and burnt sienna. The box is marked, "No. 51, Young Artists Drawing Crayons, for coloring Maps, Pictures" and contains twenty two of the original 28 crayons. The rear of the box depicts a girl coloring a piece of art on an easel and lists the crayon colors contained in the box. Both the packaging and the color names and crayon colors change over time reflecting social and cultural trends. Crayons are icons of American childhood that recall our collective memory for coloring both inside and outside the lines. Affordable and easily obtainable, they have transformed art education and fostered creativity in schools and homes, providing color to children for generations.
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Easton
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Education
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content: Popular Entertainment
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content: Family & Social Life
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content: National Treasures exhibit
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content: Art
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Kendrick, Kathleen M. and Peter C. Liebhold. Smithsonian Treasures of American History
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2000.0073.41
label: accession number
content: 2000.0073
label: catalog number
content: 2000.0073.41
objectType: label: Object Name
content: crayons, box of
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wax (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 1/2 in x 7 3/4 in x 1/2 in; 6.35 cm x 19.685 cm x 1.27 cm