Brief Assignment 1

Binney & Smith’s paper-wrapped wax crayons were introduced to the American public in 1903 with just 8 colors, and 117 years later there are 366 and counting (The Strong Museum of Play). Originally, Crayola Crayons began as a “safe and affordable” (Crayola) alternative to the harmful crayons being used by children in schools. Each package of assorted colors has a flip top for easy removal and safe-keeping. Cylindrically-shaped with a rounded, triangular point, each individual crayon is uniform, differing only in color. The signature shape and style of Crayola Crayons puts greater emphasis on each color’s name. Targeting American children, Crayola wisely chooses the names of each of their colors, knowing their product directly influenced society’s youth. Crayola Crayons are an affordable, fun set of coloring tools that, through their use of rhetoric, help bring about acceptance and social change in American society.

Crayola’s economical pricing contributed to their prosperity in mainstream culture of American childhood. The company was extremely successful very soon into its existence, “In 1903… At a nickel a box, kids snapped them up… By 1996, the company had sold 100 billion crayons” (The Strong). Emphasizing the cheap price of the toy, Crayola Crayons are seen as accessible to all children, stressing their efforts to target an audience non contingent on socio-economic status, race, or ability.

Crayola’s products’ success are heavily based on branding and as a company that targets youth, the names of their crayon colors are crucial. With this in mind, Crayola uses their platform to reinforce new and developing social ideas. Crayola’s audience was not just white children, but children of all colors and sizes, anyone who had five cents to spend on a pack of coloring tools. In the 1960s, amidst the booming Civil Rights Movement, when constructs of race and equality were being challenged center stage, Crayola changed their color “Flesh” to “Peach,” in an effort to “[help] open American eyes to diversity” (The Strong).

Shifting the narrative from a color representing what skin ​should ​look like, to what it truly conveyed was influential in emphasizing the newfound value of diversity and inclusion in American society. Likewise, renaming Indian Red, a red/brown color Chestnut (The Strong), was an effective tool in standing up against othering and marginalization of Native Americans.

Consciously aware of the influence their crayons can have on their audience, Crayola carefully constructs each color’s one or two-word names, using it as a platform to help shift and shape American culture through its youth. Crayola’s affordable marketing acted as a catalyst in turning Crayola Crayons into a household name, and a childhood staple. 117 years in the making, one can look back on the names of Crayola Crayons to see turning points in American, and global, history: “Over the years, appealing new colors tracked fashion trends and cultural change… Macaroni and Cheese, Outer Space, Purple Heart, Tickle Me Pink, and Manatee surfaced in the 90s. Names changed too: Prussian Blue became Midnight Blue as people forgot the country” (The Strong). Crayola’s lasting fame and popularity foresees many more colors to be created, and will continue to mark important moments of social and cultural change in ideologies and standards.