Most kids have some serious coloring experience under their belts by the time they enter public school. What made coloring in school different was the absence of the tried and true coloring book, where all you had to do was stay within the lines to be considered an artistic prodigy. School removed the safety net, offering a menacing blank canvas and instructions to “draw a tree” or some other common object. With sharpened crayon in hand, you stared at your paper for a few moments, then scanned the work of your classmates and noticed for the first time that you had some serious competition.

Little Bobby’s tree was a catastrophe, a blue trunk with orange leaves that looked like a circus clown that had been involved in a serious accident. “I could do better than that with one hand tied behind my back,” you thought. Then you noticed the work of little Becky and she was creating a convincing oak, birds nesting among the branches, the sun sitting gracefully above, amidst a clear blue sky with a few wisps of clouds, added for effect. “The nerve!” you thought to yourself. “Why can’t she just draw a regular old tree like everyone else?” Such was the competitive nature of coloring in school, where you had to go a little farther, unaided by the safety of the coloring lines, and actually create some art from scratch.  Undaunted, you rolled up your sleeves, wiped the sweat from your brow, and went to work. Lucky for you, you had a full box of crayons at your disposal, a palette of colors to work with, and a trusty sharpener ready to assist.

Many a child of the 70s and 80s learned how wax crayons were made from our favorite puppets on Sesame Street. But just how long has this classroom and coloring book classic been around?  Though the first crayons were developed in Europe centuries ago, it’s been just a little over a hundred years (1903, to be exact) since the first little box of Crayola Crayons were sold.  For just a nickel, the pack had black, brown, blue, red, purple, orange, yellow and green, and provided hours of quiet entertainment for lucky kids. Today, there are over a hundred colors available.

It should also be mentioned that Crayola wasn’t the only one out there making crayons for the masses, although they are the most recognizable brand.  Prang, from the makers of the ever-famous Dixon-Ticonderoga pencil, also become popular in schools, particularly with the creation of their fatter, stronger, angled crayons which are easier to use for tiny hands.

Crayons were perfect for those not quite ready to use markers or paint.  Posters and pictures were drawn with the greatest of ease (and ease of clean up, something especially appreciated by teachers).  A variety of projects could be handled, all thanks to the magic of crayons.  And, thanks to the built-in sharpener found on most large boxes of crayons, kids could venture into different forms of artistic expression by keeping the shavings and putting them to use in other projects, such as melting the bits between two pieces of wax paper. There was nothing a crayon couldn’t handle, or so it seemed.

It is said that the average child in the United States will wear down 730 crayons by their 10^th birthday.  If that’s true, then crayons aren’t going anywhere any time soon, and are sure to be there for future generations of kids, eager for a little artistic release and realizing, perhaps for the first time, that those around them also had a few coloring skills of their own.