Jenny's Crayon Collection: Vintage

22 No. 22M Munsell Crayola and No. 220M Munsell Perma Pressed Crayons

I have been on a quest to find all the retired Crayola colors. I made the chart below to swatch all the Crayola True colors that have been discontinued. Click here to get it. When I got to the Maximum and Middle colors I realized that I did not have those boxes and set out on a search to find some Munsell crayons. I tried Google which lead me to Etsy. I also tried eBay to no avail. I know a collector, Alan N. who is paring down his collection and asked him if he had them. He did and sold them to me!!!! They are super fragile and I have to figure out the best way to store them, but I was so excited to get a piece of Crayola history and add to the color chart. Click here to get the complete retired Crayola Colors checklist.

Colors

The colors are either Maximum or Minimum with the exception of black. There is supposed to be a Maximum Black but it was not in this box.

Since the retired swatch chart is in color order with all of the retired colors I rearranged the swatches in color order for the Munsell crayons. There are some really pretty colors! Crayola should think of bringing some of these back. All of these colors are super rare.

The colors in the Munsell Crayola and Munsell Perma Pressed Crayons box are:

Maximum Red, Maximum Yellow Red, Maximum Yellow, Maximum Green Yellow, Maximum Green, Maximum Blue Green, Maximum Blue, Maximum Purple Blue, Maximum Purple, Maximum Red Purple, Middle Red, Middle Yellow Red, Middle Yellow, Middle Green Yellow, Middle Green, Middle Blue Green, Middle Blue, Middle Purple Blue, Middle Purple, Middle Red Purple, Middle Gray, Black.

Collecting

Crayola acquired the Munsell Colors crayon line in 1926 and came out with 3 different sized boxes, 7, 12 and 22. I got the 22M and 220M boxes because they contained all the colors. The box is labeled on the front with nothing on the back. It contains the preferred color sorting order on the inside panel of the box. I lists each color, the color family, order number and a number I do not know what means for example Maximum Red is 4/14.

There are two boxes the No.220M Munsell Perma Pressed Crayon and No.22M Munsell Crayola. Both boxes contain the same colors though I did notice that the Perma crayons were more oxidized then the Crayola crayons. The front of the box says Five Principal Hues and five intermediate hues at middle value and middle chroma, Five Principal Hues and Five Intermediate Hues at Maximum Chroma with Middle Gray and Black. what is interesting to note is they spelled Gray gray, but the Middle Grey with an e. I have no idea why Crayola released two of virtually the same box at the same time, but they did.

Here are the boxes.

No.220M Munsell Perma Pressed Crayon

No.22M Munsell Crayola

No. 72 Crayola Crayons and Sharpener with Book of Crayon Projects from the Crayola Makers

I picked up the Crayola 72 crayons and sharpener on eBay. I was really excited to get it. Crayola first made the 72 count box in 1958. There are a few iterations of this box that continued until 1990 when it was changed to a carrying case. There are many crayons in this box that are rare. This box if from 1963. It was the first of its kind and included a book of crayon projects and a crayon sharpener.

There are repeat colors in this box; blue, red and black.

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Click here to find these on eBay.

Color Information

I did find out that some crayons that should have been in this box, PEACH, MAUVELOUS AND GOLDEN ROD were not included. I will have to find those to make the box complete. This is typical of vintage crayons bought online. Often times they will be missing colors. It is always good to double check before purchasing.

Boxes: No. 72 Crayola Crayons and Sharpener with Book of Crayon Projects from the Crayola Makers
What's inside the box:

APRICOT, AQUAMARINE, BITTERSWEET, BLACK (3), BLUE (4), BLUE GRAY, BLUE GREEN, BLUE VIOLET, BRICK RED, BROWN, BURNT ORANGE, BURNT SIENNA, CADET BLUE, CARNATION PINK, COPPER, CORNFLOWER, FOREST GREEN, GOLD, GOLDEN ROD, GRAY, GREEN, GREEN BLUE, GREEN YELLOW, INDIAN RED, LAVENDER, LEMON YELLOW, MAGENTA, MAHOGANY, MAIZE, MAROON, MAUVELOUS, MELON, MIDNIGHT BLUE, MULBERRY, NAVY BLUE, OLIVE GREEN, ORANGE, ORANGE RED, ORANGE YELLOW, ORCHID, PEACH, PERIWINKLE, PINE GREEN, PLUM, RAW SIENNA, RAW UMBER, RED (4), RED ORANGE, RED VIOLET, SALMON, SEA GREEN, SEPIA, SKY BLUE, SILVER, SPRING GREEN, TAN, THISTLE, TURQUOISE BLUE, VIOLET, VIOLET BLUE, VIOLET RED, WHITE, YELLOW, YELLOW GREEN, YELLOW ORANGE

Purchase Information: eBay
Where to buy: eBay

Collecting Information

This is an excellent set of boxes to collect. There are some rare crayons inside.

Boxes: No. 72 Count Crayola Crayons from with Book of Crayon Projects from The Crayola Makers

Year: 1963

Style Numbers: none

Code Numbers: none

UPC Numbers: none

Manufacturing Location: USA

Purchase Information: ebay

Where to buy: eBay

Here are the sides of the box and the crayon sharpener. I love the gold theme.

Here is the Crayola Crayon Project Book that came in the set. I would love to try some of these projects.

Original Boxes of 64 Crayola Crayons

Up to 1958 the largest size box Crayola had made was 48 crayons. In 1958 all that changed. The 64 count box was introduced! There were 4 versions that year. I am lucky enough to have 3 of those four version because a generous reader John Corb sent some amazing boxes from his collection.

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Click here to search for the 64 box on eBay

The crayon sharpener on a box might see standard now a days, but back in 1958 it was brand new! There was even a new patent for it, US Patent 2,587,881. In a patent the need for a patent is stated in the first paragraph. One of the funniest lines is "since crayons are often used by small children, the shavings therefrom are often deposited about and must be subsequently gathered." I do not know how many times I have really used a crayon sharpener, but I gather objects deposited from my children ALL THE TIME. The idea was to have a spot to sharpen the crayons so the sharpener would not get lost and the shavings would not get all over the house.

Color Information

Here are the colors that ended up being in the 64 count box at the end of the year:

orchid, lavender, carnation pink, thistle, red violet, violet red, brick red, magenta, maroon, mulberry, indian red, red, melon, salmon, orange red, red orange, orange, flesh, maize, goldenrod, yellow orange, apricot, orange yellow, yellow, lemon yellow, green yellow, spring green, yellow green, sea green, olive green, green, pine green, aquamarine, forest green, turquoise blue, green blue, sky blue, blue green, periwinkle, blue, navy blue, midnight blue, cornflower, blue gray, cadet blue, violet, blue, blue violet, violet, plum, tan, burnt orange, mahogany, burnt sienna, brown, raw sienna, bittersweet, raw umber, sepia, black, silver, gray, gold, copper, white

The first boxes had brilliant rose included, but was later changed out to magenta. The two colors are very similar in color.

Here are all the swatches from the 64 crayons, as vibrant and saturated as ever. I was surprised that some of the dark ones colored very light. Some of the crayons went on smooth and some were a little harder to color with. I wonder if its from developing some kind of film in storage. In this exercise color combinations like red violet and violet red tell a story. Whatever color is listed second is the dominant color, violet in red violet and red in red violet. All the crayons follow this pattern.

Also of note is the colors gold and copper. I think they contained real metal. The colors were green in color, and colored green when I first used them, but then I did this swatch and they showed their true colors. Gold is on the left and copper is on the right.

Here is the wrapper.

Here are the sleeves. Notice how the sleeves are numbered. This was probably to make sure the right sleeves got in the right box.

Here they are in color order in the box. Isn't is so pretty?

Collecting Information

These are excellent boxes to collect being the first 64 count Crayola boxes.

Boxes: 64 Count Crayola Crayon boxes

Year: April 1958, June 1958, October 1958

Style Numbers: none

Code Numbers: none

UPC Numbers: none

Manufacturing Location: USA

Purchase Information: from fellow collector
Where to buy: eBay

Here are all the sides of the boxes and collecting information.

April 1958 64 Crayola Crayons

1958-1961 64 Crayola Crayons

June 1958 Crayola Crayons

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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Search for these crayons on ebay

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

No. 12 Crayola Gold Medal Crayons

I was soooo lucky to get these boxes of No. 12 Crayola Gold Medal School Crayons. I received both of these boxes from John Corb. I am super grateful. Crayola came out with 12 colors in their first lineup in 1903, but in 1910 Crayola converted the 6 and 12 Rubens boxes to Crayola Gold Medal boxes. Until this time only the 8 count crayon box was Gold Medal. I would love to get my hands on one of those. Crayola continued to make 12 count boxes and still does. They are not standard in the school section of the Crayola aisle, but can be found in specialty and educational websites and stores.

Click here to search these on ebay. Warning they are very rare crayons.

The boxes are quite different. The 1910 box is more ornate. The 1940 box is more gold and reminiscent in color to the colors used currently for Crayola boxes. The 1910 box informs the user these colors can be used "for educational color work". At that time Crayola also had the Rubens that were marketed to Artists.

The 1940 box discontinued Eng. Vermilion, Cobalt Blue, and Lt. Green and replaced them with Yellow-Green, Red-Orange and Blue Violet.

Thank you Ed Welter for providing info on these boxes so I can date these boxes.

Color Information
Boxes: No. 12 Crayola Gold Medal School Crayons, 1910 and 1940
What's inside the box:
1910 Box: Burnt Sienna, Black, Violet, Brown, Cobalt Blue, Blue, Green, Lt. Green, Yellow, Orange, Red, Eng. Vermilion

1940 Box: RED, RED-ORANGE, ORANGE, YELLOW, YELLOW-GREEN, GREEN, BLUE, BLUE VIOLET, VIOLET, BLACK, BURNT SIENNA, BROWN
Where to buy: eBay

The wrappers on the 1910 crayons and the 1940 crayons are quite different. The 1910 crayons look hand stamped with different fonts, different spacing and sizes. The crayon name is capitalized, Trade Mark is in all caps, Crayola is written with quotations markers, Binney & Smith Co. is in all caps and New York, where they were made is written in all caps.

The 1940 crayon has the signature Crayola border. It contains the same information, but the information is contained in an oval. See this post to see the whole wrapper of the 1940 crayons.

Collecting Information

These are very rare boxes and highly collectible. There are only a few known original Crayola No. 12 Gold Medal boxes out there.

Boxes: No. 12 Crayola Gold Medal School Crayons, 1910 and 1940
Other Boxes: Other years, 1919, 1928, 1932, 1935, 1938, 1946, 1950, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1966, 1970, 1979, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2012

Year: 1910, 1940

Style Numbers: none

Code Numbers: none

UPC Numbers: none

Manufacturing Location: USA
Where to buy: eBay

The back of the box explains what a crayon is because it was new at the time. It was "an artist's crayon at scholars' price." It was "permanent" and "waterproof". It "will not rub off." It "will not soil the hands or clothes." The crayons come are "made in black, white and twenty-four different colors". The sides say they are "good in any climate". Though that might be a misnomer, because I have had crayons melt in the car. The crayons are "clean, compact and convenient". The other side of the box says there are "twelve assorted colors including brown and black".

By 1940 the crayon box did not need as much explanations. The dropped the color descriptions, permanent and waterproof and the clean, compact and convenient.

I am so excited to have these boxes. They are such a treasure.