Crayola Color Timeline

The name Crayola comes from the french words "craie" (chalk) and "oléagineux" (oily), coined by Edwin Binney’s wife, Alice.

I don’t remember my first box of Crayola crayons, but my mom still has some of my first “drawings”. Of course they were mostly just scribbles, but none the less, I grew up with crayons. I colored everything; the paper I was given, the table that happened to be under that paper, and the white walls of my parent’s home. Nothing was safe from my art.

I can’t say I draw much with crayons anymore, but I always have enjoyed the names of the colors. Over the past 100 years, as the size of Crayola crayon packs increased, the variety of colors available has increased as well. There are now over 120 colors to choose from. Most of the colors’ names have stayed the same since they were first introduced, but some have been altered to better suit children in this day. It’s interesting to dig a little into the history and colors of Crayola crayons.