Crayon Facts

Crayons have been around for years. I am sure we all remember having them as kids. Did you ever wonder what the story is with crayons and how they came to be? The most well-known of all crayon brands of course, is Crayola. Here are some interesting facts:

What is a Crayon? A crayon is a stick of colored wax Wax. Wax has traditionally referred to a substance that is secreted by bees and used by them in constructing their honeycombs.It is an imprecisely defined term generally understood to be a substance with properties similar to beeswax.(from absoluteastronomy.com)

Facts:
1. The first box of Crayola crayons was sold in 1903 for a nickel and included the same colors available in the eight-count box today: red, blue, yellow, green, violet, orange, black and brown.

2. Crayola crayons come in 120 colors including 23 reds, 20 greens, 19 blues, 16 purples, 14 oranges, 11 browns, 8 yellows, 2 grays, 2 coppers, 2 blacks, 1 white, 1 gold and 1 silver.

3. In the last 98 years, more than 100 billion Crayola crayons have been made.

4. The name Crayola was coined by Alice Binney, wife of company founder
Edwin, and a former school teacher. She combined the words craie, which
is French for chalk, and ola, for oleaginous, because crayons are made
from petroleum based paraffin.

5. Crayola crayon labels are only made in 18 colors.

6. Binney & Smith, maker of Crayola products, produces nearly 3 billion crayons each year, an average of twelve million daily. That's enough to circle the globe 6 times. It would take about 400 million crayons to go around the world.

7. The best seller is the 24 count box of crayons.