Dating back to cave days, children used pieces of reddish clay, burnt wood, anything that would transfer a color to an object. Thus, coloring was born from these primitive first renderings.
It is thought that Europe is the birthplace of the modern looking crayon and is reported to have been simple mixtures of charcoal and oil and then as time wore on, pigments were added to the mix to produce different colors and eventually wax replaced the oil in the sticks making them much more durable.
The modern crayon as we know it today is attributed to Joseph Binny and in 1903 his company launched the first modern crayons which had 8 colors and sold as a set for 5 cents. They were an instant hit and as the years went on, they added more colors to the mix to make them more enjoyable for kids to use.
Binny’s Crayola Crayons changed the world and you can find them in practically every country on the planet.
