Friday is National Crayon Day -- but at Crayola, it will also be a farewell party.

For the first time in its 100-year history, the company will retire a color from its 24-count box. That's right. They are retiring a color. Erasing it from the color bank. Sending it into the crayon black hole.

Except Crayola isn't saying yet which crayon is getting kicked out, saving the announcement for Friday morning. (We're guessing it's not red, blue or yellow, lest Crayola wants to set off riots around the world. Then again, stranger things have happened.)

You might be wondering: Can Crayola do that -- just kill off a color like an overpaid actor on a long-running soap opera?

Well, Crayola last retired colors in 2003, when the "Save the Shade" contest kept burnt sienna around but gave the boot to blizzard blue, magic mint, teal blue and the universally reviled mulberry. Before that, Crayola retired several colors in 1990, when green blue, orange red, orange yellow, violet blue, maize, lemon yellow, blue gray and raw umber were shown the door.

Crayola makes 120 different crayon colors in total. The 24-count box currently features red, yellow, blue, brown, orange, green, violet, black, carnation pink, yellow orange, blue green, red violet, red orange, yellow green, blue violet, white, violet red, dandelion, cerulean, apricot, scarlet, green yellow, indigo and gray. One will be on the chopping block.

Once the color is retired, production of that crayon will stop, a Crayola Experience spokesperson said. It'll only be available in boxes already on store shelves at the time. The company hasn't yet announced how the empty spot in the 24-count box will be filled.

To send off the newly retired color, the Crayola Experience in Easton has special deals, attractions and giveaways in the works. They'll be announced soon.

An unveiling of the banished crayon will take place Friday morning at Times Square in New York City, featuring a larger-than-life crayon box, a costumed-character of the departed color and a secret musical guest.

Which color do you think is getting kicked out? Which ones do you hope stick around? See people's guesses by following the hashtag #WhosLeaving on Twitter.

Andrew Doerfler may be reached at adoerfler@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @adoerfler or on Facebook.