Thursday, August 27, 2009

Goodbye, Raw Umber

From http://www.wikipedia.org/:

Crayola crayons have come in a number of different colors over the years. When Binney & Smith first produced Crayola crayons in 1903, there were just eight colors. By 1949 there were 48 colors. In 1958 the number of colors increased to 64. Eight fluorescent colors were introduced in 1972, increasing the total number of colors to 72. In 1990 the total increased to 80 colors with the introduction of 16 new colors and the discontinuation of eight colors. The number of available colors was increased to 96 in 1993 and to 120 in 1998, though with thirteen crayons being retired along the way, the grand total of colors is 133. Along with the regular packs of crayons, there have been many specialty sets, including Silver Swirls, Gem Tones, Pearl Brite, Metallic FX, Magic Scent, Silly Scents, and more.

Colors have been renamed through the years. In 1958,
Prussian Blue was renamed Midnight Blue. The color known as Flesh was renamed Peach in 1962, partially in response to the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. Indian Red was renamed Chestnut in 1999 due to concern that some children thought the crayon color represented the skin color of Native Americans. According to the company, however, the name originally referred to a reddish-brown pigment from India that is used in artists' oil paint. In the past, some crayons have been temporarily renamed, such as the 2004 State-Your-Color Contest crayons and the 8 Kids' Choice Colors in the 2008 50th anniversary 64-count box.

In 1994, Crayola produced a 16-pack of crayons that released realistic fragrances when used. In 1995, Crayola changed 13 of 16 scents because of complaints received by parents that some of the crayons smelled good enough to eat (i.e. the Cherry & Blueberry scented crayons). The 13 crayons with food scents were retired in favor of non-food scents.

The Magic Scents included: Baby Powder, Banana, Blueberry, Bubble Gum, Cedar Chest, Cherry, Chocolate, Coconut, Daffodil, Dirt, Eucalyptus, Fresh Air, Grape, Jelly Bean, Leather Jacket, Lemon, Licorice, Lilac, Lime, Lumber, New Car, Orange, Peach, Pine, Rose, Shampoo, Smoke, Soap, Strawberry, and Tulip.

The Silly Scents, which are currently produced by Crayola, include: Alien Armpit, Big Foot Feet, Booger Buster, Dingy Dungeon, Gargoyle Gas, Giant's Club, Magic Potion, Mummy's Tomb, Ogre Odor, Pixie Powder, Princess Perfume, Sasquatch Socks, Sea Serpent, Smashed Pumpkin, Sunburnt Cyclops, Winter Wizard.

Crayola's thirteen retired colors are: Lemon Yellow, Violet Blue, Blue Gray, Orange Red, Maize, Raw Umber, Orange Yellow, Green Blue, Blizzard Blue, Magic Mint, Mulberry, Teal Blue, and Thistle.

2 comments:

  1. Why do I feel so certain that I remember "flesh" is it was renamed "peach" five years before I was born (and presumably around eight years before I was allowed to use crayons)? Is that a false memory? Or were there still some floating around at that time?

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  2. No, that's a good point, I definitely remember using the color Flesh too! I'm sure it's not a false memory. Either wikipedia got that wrong or it just takes a while for all the crayons to go out of circulation...?

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