A Timeline

1903

Binney & Smith Co. introduces the first Crayola Crayons. There are 8 colors in a box:

black blue brown green orange red violet yellow

1949

There are 40 colors added:

apricot bittersweet blue green blue violet brick red burnt sienna carnation pink cornflower flesh1 gold gray green blue green yellow lemon yellow magenta mahogany maize maroon melon olive green orange red orange yellow orchid periwinkle pine green Prussian blue2 red orange red violet salmon sea green silver spring green tan thistle turquoise blue violet blue violet red white yellow green yellow orange 1. Name changed to “peach” in 1962. 2. Name changed to “midnight blue” in 1958.

There are now 48 colors in the biggest box of Crayola Crayons.

1958

There are 16 colors added:

aquamarine blue gray burnt orange cadet blue copper forest green goldenrod Indian red1 lavender mulberry navy blue plum raw sienna raw umber sepia sky blue 1. Name changed to “chestnut” in 1999.

There are now 64 colors in the biggest box of Crayola Crayons. For the first time, the big box comes with a built-in sharpener.

In response to educators' requests, “Prussian blue” is renamed “midnight blue.” Teachers felt that children were no longer familiar enough with Prussian history to recognize that this crayon color referred to the famous deep-blue uniforms of Prussian soldiers.

1962

Partly in response to the civil rights movement, Crayola decides to change the name of the “flesh” crayon to “peach.” Renaming this crayon was a way of recognizing that skin comes in a variety of shades.

1972

There are 8 fluorescent colors added:

chartreuse hot magenta ultra blue ultra green ultra orange ultra pink ultra red ultra yellow In 1990 these were renamed:

atomic tangerine blizzard blue hot magenta laser lemon outrageous orange screamin' green shocking pink wild watermelon

There are now 72 colors in the biggest box of Crayola Crayons.

1990

There are 16 colors added:

cerulean dandelion electric lime fuchsia jungle green magic mint neon carrot purple pizzazz radical red razzle dazzle rose royal purple sunglow teal blue unmellow yellow wild strawberry vivid tangerine

There are 8 colors retired:

blue gray green blue lemon yellow maize orange red orange yellow raw umber violet blue

There are now 80 colors in the biggest box of Crayola Crayons.

Crayola felt that the retired colors (and their names) were too dull to appeal to children today.

1993

There are 16 colors added:

asparagus cerise denim granny smith apple macaroni and cheese mauvelous pacific blue purple mountain's majesty razzmatazz robin's egg blue shamrock tickle me pink timber wolf tropical rain forest tumbleweed wisteria

There are now 96 colors in the biggest box of Crayola Crayons.

Crayon lovers chose the 16 newest color names through Crayola's “Name the New Color Contest,” part of the company's 90th anniversary celebration.

1998

There are 24 colors added:

almond antique brass banana mania beaver blue bell brink pink canary Caribbean green cotton candy cranberry desert sand eggplant fern fuzzy wuzzy brown manatee mountain meadow outer space pig pink pink flamingo purple heart shadow sunset orange torch red vivid violet

There are now 120 colors in the biggest box of Crayola Crayons.

1999

In response to educators' requests, “Indian red” is renamed “chestnut.” Contrary to popular belief, the original name of this color was not meant to represent the skin color of Native Americans. Instead, the name referred to a reddish pigment from India that was often used in oil paints.

The new name was the winner of a contest that attracted more than 250,000 entries. Other ideas for renaming the color included “crab claw red,” “mars red,” “baseball mitt,” “red clay,” and “old penny.”

2000

Thistle was removed and replaced by indigo; torch red was given a new name, scarlet.

A number of small “specialty sets” of Crayola Crayons are available. These include glitter crayons, pearl brite crayons, and techno-brite crayons.

2003

There are 4 colors added:

inch worm jazzberry jam mango tango wild blue yonder

And 4 colors are retired:

blizzard blue magic mint mulberry teal blue

To mark Crayola's 100th anniversary, crayon users named four new colors and voted out four other shades.