Crayola is one of the most famous brands of toy manufacturers, particularly known for their production of crayons. The company was founded in 1903. Binney and Smith, the co-founders, realised there was a niche in the market for reasonably priced wax crayons, so a box of eight was soon mass produced. The brand quickly flourished, and by 1958, a pack of sixty-four crayons was available, which soon became one of their most popular products. In 1948, the company began a workshop program in schools to ensure that teachers of art knew about the different Crayola products.
Although this sounds useful to schools, it was also an excellent marketing ploy on the company’s behalf. Over the years, the colours’ names were changed (notably the change from Prussian to midnight blue, and flesh to peach), and in 1992, a set was available known as ‘Colour Your World’, which contained all possible skin tones for children to colour themselves and their friends more accurately. They also released a set that was fully washable, meaning that infants who coloured on walls would not ruin their parents’ houses.
In 2003, the company celebrated its centennial with the addition of four new colours. Still popular today, packs of Crayola crayons range from a few which are popular in hotels and on aeroplanes, to the original pack of eight, to eight-hundred and eighty two, which are marketed for use in classrooms. Most packs come in multiples of eight. There are a number of styles of crayon available in their range, including the classic colours, glitter crayons, neon crayons, and metallic crayons. The larger packs often come with the famous Crayola built-in sharpener.
The manufacturing plants are enormous, and are located in Mexico, Brazil, and Pensylvania. What makes Crayola so great to buy for your little ones is that all of the crayons available on the market are completely non-toxic. As with most companies, they have expanded over time into different products. Crayola mainly produce art supplies for use both at home and in schools. The company has also branched out onto non-crayon-based good, which include paints, marker pens and felt tips, and pencils. They are also famous for patenting Silly Putty.
Popular products available now are colouring books, jumbo crayons, mini-markers, sticker books, finger paints, fabric paints and anti-dust chalks, as well as plastic scissors. There are also project kits available for your little ones to make friendship bracelets, plasticine characters, art wheels, and paint-by-numbers, as well as having branded clothing.
Despite the safety claims, there have been a few product recalls over the years, more recently the recall of toddler boots with the brand name displayed on the side. This was due to the toggles on the boots being too dangerous for very young children, as they were a choking hazard. In 2004, the Crayola Activity Cube was also recalled also due to potential choking hazard. Although there have been a few mishaps on the way, on the whole Crayola is a safe brand of product to buy for your children.