"I adore simple pleasures. They are the last refuge of the complex."

We've done a lot of looking into the history and science of fine art and more specifically, paint. But as we grow older every day, we forget about the first little rainbow of color we were introduced to as children:




CRAYONS!


Today one of the most popular brands for buying these little splunkers is Crayola, and although they started over 120 years ago, crayons were not their first major product out on the market. Binney and Smith, the makers of Crayola were two cousins who took over the family pigment business in the late 1800's. At the time, they were known mostly for their red oxide pigment, which is why we see so much of this in America:



After their success with red oxide pigment, they moved on to other accomplishments such as slate school pencils. But it wasn't until the created dustless chalk that the idea caught their eye to try their hand at crayons. At the time, crayons were white and of poor quality paraffin wax. In 1903, Binney and Smith created not only better quality crayons, but ones with color as well.

Throughout the past 100 years there have been more the 400 different Crayola crayon colors, but today there are an established 120 on the market. For more information on Crayola's colors and a time line click here.

More info on Binney and Smith.