Jenny's Crayon Collection: Binney & Smith

Crayolet Colored Drawing Crayons No. 14

The Crayolet Line started at Binney & Smith in 1910. It ran until 1918 and then was brought back in 1930 and survived until 1978. Crayola had many different product lines during their beginnings as a company. Crayola or Binney & Smith were experimenting with different formulations of crayons at this time and marketing techniques. I think they were trying to find their niche in the art world.

On the back of this box it says, "CRAYOLET and CRAYOLA should not be confused. Crayolet crayons are the best in their particular class, just as Crayola crayons are the standard for highest quality." What does all this mean? I think it means the crayons are different formulas. The Crayolet's are the best in their class? But was was their class? At this time of this box production 1941 Crayola had 9-10 other types of crayon boxes out there also; Besco, Durel, "Perma", Spectra Pastel, Gold Medal and lots more "drawing crayons". (Thank you Ed Welter for info on boxes from these years)

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Color Information
Boxes: 8 Crayolet Colored Drawing Crayons No. 14
What's inside the box:
brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, black
Purchase Information: from fellow collector
Where to buy: eBay

Collecting Information
This is a lightly collectible box because it is hard to find.

Boxes: 8 Crayolet Colored Drawing Crayons No. 14
Other Boxes: There are other boxes

Year: 1941

Style Numbers: none

Code Numbers: none

UPC Numbers: none

Manufacturing Location: USA
Where to buy: eBay

Ruben's Crayola Artists' and Drawing Crayons

I love it when I have new box of old crayons and I get to learn about the history of the box. I had no idea who Rubens was. He is the man on the box of Rubens crayons shown below and on the actual crayon wrapper. Who was he? He was Peter Paul Rubens, a famous Baroque Flemish artist (1577-1640. His artwork is revered and sells for millions. Why would Crayola or Binney & Smith Co. as it was named then use his picture? They wanted to show that their box of crayons was high quality and could be used by artists. Hence the ever present picture of Ruben everywhere. It is his self portrait which is currently part of the British Royal Collection. In examining the box it also emphasizes the colors are bright and permanent. On the 1906 box the front says "ARTISTS' CRAYON The Colors in these Crayons are equal to those used in the best Artists' Tube Colors and Pastels."

These boxes were given to me by John Corb. I am so GRATEFUL!!! I am also grateful for Ed Welter for gathering info on the Rubens 24 Count boxes too!

1906 and 1918 24 Count Rubens Crayons

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On the back of the box it says "THE ONLY CRAYON WHICH ARTISTS CONSIDER A SUBSTITUTE FOR OIL & WATER COLORS & PASTELS/WILL NOT BLUR/WILL NOT WASH NOR RUB OFF/STUDIES MADE WITH IT CAN BE VARNISHED/UNEQUALED FOR OUT-DOOR SKETCHING". The sides of the box say "Made under an Improved French Process."

There are a number of claims in there that I think would make a great YouTube video. Are they equal? Can they be varnished? Can they used used for outdoor sketching? I did not know outdoor sketching was a thing back in the 1900's. I am definitely going to do a video and at least try out one crayon to see if the claims are true. Here is a video with all the swatches. They were pretty good.

The Ruben crayon line came in packs of 6, 12, 18, and 24. They have been around since the beginning of the company in 1903 Here is the information on the colors in the 24 box.
Color Information
Boxes: Crayola
What's inside the box:
1906: Black, BURNT SIENNA, Burnt Umber, CHR. GREEN L, COBALT BLUE, Dark Green, Eng. Vermilion, Flesh Tint, Gold Ochre, Ind. Red, MADDER LAKE, Magenta, MED. GREEN, Med. Yellow, Olive Green, ORANGE, PRUSSIAN BLUE, Raw Umber, ROSE PINK, ULT. BLUE, Ven. Red, VIOLET, White, YELLOW

1918: Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Chr. Green, L., Dark Green, Eng. Vermillion, Flesh Tint, Gold Ochre, Ind. Red, Madder Lake, Magenta, Med. Green, Olive Green, Orange, Raw Umber, Rose Pink, Violet, White

Purchase Information: from fellow collector
Where to buy: eBay

Here are all the crayons with the names and swatches. I think they came out beautifully!

It is interesting to note that in 1906 some crayon names were capitalized and others were not.

1906 Rubens Crayola Crayons

1918 Rubens Crayola Crayons

Collecting Information
These are highly collectible boxes because they are hard to find. They are the second and third iteration of the Rubens 24 Count box. There are a number of differences even between these two boxes that I have. The border is different, the text on the box is different. Rubens is in quotes on the 1906 box. Rubens is looking right in one box and left in the other. The frame around Ruben is different. Trade Mark is on Rubens self portrait in the 1906 box and outside the portrait on the 1918 box. ARTISTS' CRAYON was changed to DRAWING CRAYON. Paris is listed as a location on the 1906 box and not on the 1918 box. Were they trying to market to Europe earlier or did they put it on there to make the crayon seem more prestigious? Also the description of the crayons as mentioned above was taken off for the 1918 box.

The only text differences on the back is "Clean, Compact and Convenient" was removed and quotes on "Rubens".

"Made In the U.S.A." was added to the bottom of the 1918 box.

The wrappers are also different. The etching of Ruben on the 1918 crayon is improved. The 1906 crayon is called an Artists' Crayon and the 1918 crayon is called a Drawing Crayon. The 1906 crayon mentions Paris while the 1918 one does not. The borders are also slightly different. Also TRADE MARK is added to the 1918 crayon.

Boxes: 1906 and 1918 Rubens Crayola Crayons
Other Boxes: There were about 5 other box designs then the Rubens 24 Crayola Crayons was changed to Crayola Drawing Crayon. It still had a picture of Rubens on the front and Ruben in the border surrounding the portrait, but they were not called Rubens crayons.

Year: 1906 and 1918

Style Numbers: None

Code Numbers: None

UPC Numbers: None

Manufacturing Location: 1918 box was manufactured in the USA, there is no information on the 1906 box.
Where to buy: ebay

1906 Rubens Crayola Crayons

1918 Rubens Crayola Crayons

1906 VS 1918 Crayon Wrappers

No. 836 Crayola Crayons Gold Medal-36 count: What's Inside the Box

The Crayola No. 836 Gold Medal crayon box was made in the 1950's through the 1960's. It came in a few variations. One had an Elf on the top of the box holding a crayon, the other had text on the front of the box with the dimensions of the crayon listed, 3 5/8" x 5/16". The Elf could have been an early variation of Crayola's character Tip which has been really popular in the 2010's. The Elf box contains the words School crayons on the front while the text box does not. The crayon contained 36 crayons of the same color. It came in 6 colors. Unfortunately when I bought these boxes I did not read the eBay description properly and the original crayons were not in the box. But it is still cool to have these boxes. The boxes did not come in the tuck box design, but with a lid.

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Crayola 36 Count Yellow Vintage Crayon Box: What's Inside the Box

Crayola made the Gold Medal Crayon 36 count box somewhere in the 1940's. It was filled with 36 sticks of the same color. On the front of the box they specified that it was "for every day use" and also "School crayons". I think this was to advertise to both market segments, parents and educators. Crayola still specified they were a company at this time on the front of the box. The front of the box was actually a side. The box was made with a lid instead of the common tuck box. This would make it easier for kids to grab one at school. This box was a precursor to the No. 836 box.

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1955 Crayola Vintage Green Jumbo Crayons: What's Inside the Box

The Crayola Gold Medal Drawing No. 33 Crayons are some of Crayola's earliest attempts at Jumbo/Large crayons. These crayon types were designated by the No. 33 in the title. They were packaged in this box until 1987. They came packaged 12 of the same color. It is interesting to note that the crayons say BINNEY & SMITH CO. while the box says BINNEY & SMITH INC. I think these were made in New York before the company moved to Easton. Now a days the jumbo crayons are made in Mexico.

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Perma Crayons No. 93: What's Inside the Box

I was so happy to pick up the Perma Pressed Gold Medal No. 93 box of crayons on eBay. They are now my oldest box of crayons. I love the history of Crayola even though I do not have many historic boxes yet. The Perma Perssed fine art crayons came out in 1924 after Binney & Smith (the parent company of Crayola) acquired the crayon line of Munsell Color Company. They were high quality crayons at an affordable price. Binney & Smith also incorporated the Munsell color wheel into its product lines. At this time Binney & Smith also had Durel, Cerata, Spectra, Tiny Tops, Crayola, Munsell Crayola, and Munsell Perma crayons. I feel like their line offerings were so diverse at this time because they were so new on the market, there had never been crayons before. The crayon offerings have definitely been fine tuned. Crayola now offers a standard set of crayon brand lines. They may make specialty crayons, but they all fall under the Crayola brand.

*sources: http://munsell.com/color-blog/crayon-color-history-collecting-ed-welter/

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Crayola Drawing Crayon: What's Inside the Box

I received this box of Crayola Rubens Drawing crayons from a friend. It is my oldest box of Crayola crayons. The box is incomplete, but I love it. I love all the little details in it and especially love the old used crayons.

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This Ruben's box is from 1945. What is really neat about this box is it is one of the original boxes, but a later iteration from the early Crayola line up. The Rubens 24 color boxes were available as early as 1906. An iteration of this box is no longer available. I am really happy that I have one of them, even if it is a later iteration. There are many important items on this box. Ruben for one and the direction he is looking, on different box iterations he was looking different ways. This box features, Binney & Smith Company New York on it. It has the Gold Medal symbol included.

Who was Ruben, the man printed on this box? He was Sir Peter Paul Rubens, a "Flemish Baroque painter".

Crayola 24 Count Gold Medal School Crayons: What's Inside the Box

The No 242 Crayola Gold Medal School Crayons were first made in 1950. There are not a lot of boxes with the Gold Medal on the front of the box. I got these from a friend. It is interesting to note that Crayola was thinking about writing on fabric way back in the 1950's when this box was made. On the back of the box it describes how to affix the crayon onto fabric in a process similar to one found in their patents for fabric crayons.

This year also marks the year that Binney & Smith went from a Company to a corporation. The front of the box says Inc instead of Co. My oldest box of crayons which I have not posted yet are from the 40's. It shows company on the crayon wrappers.

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Staonal General Marking Crayon: What's Inside the Box

Guess what is really cool about the Staonal General Marking Crayons? They have the same name as the original original Crayola crayons from 1902. I only have one color so far, but I want to get them all. Cousins Edward Binney and C. Harold Smith, ie the namesakes of Binney & Smith, developed the Staonal crayon in 1902. Edwin went on later to develop Crayola crayons in 1903. It is so cool it is still around today, at least for now. (Check out the crayon collecting website for a more detailed history.)