Crayon Coloring Page

The first Crayola crayons were made in 1903 by cousins Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith, who ran a company in Pennsylvania that already made pigments for paint and ink. They mixed their pigments with melted wax so children had something cheap and safe to draw with. A box of eight crayons cost a nickel.

The name Crayola came from Edwin's wife, Alice, who had been a schoolteacher. She joined the French word "craie," which means chalk, to "ola," from a word meaning oily. A crayon is just wax and pigment, so it's a bit of chemistry that fits in your hand.