Trivia: School Days 2004

School Days

Trivia

Back to

Crayola has been brightening the scenery of school and childhood for 101 years.

To mark the Easton, Pa., company's colorful legacy, here's a rainbow of fund facts.

CRAYONS -Crayola has been brightening the scenery of childhood for 100 years. To mark the Easton, Pa., company's colorful legacy, here's a rainbow of fund facts.

A) The name is from “crayon”, meaning “color”, and “ola”, meaning “little”

B) The name is an anagram of the last name of Abigail Raycola, who invented the crayon

C) The name is from the French “craie” which means “chalk”, and “ola”, for “oily”

3. What is the favorite Crayola Crayon color, according to a poll taken in 2001?

5. What was special about the 72 Crayola crayon gift box, introduced in 1959?

A) Instead of a cardboard box, the crayons were packaged in a decorative gift tin

B) The boxes displayed pictures of the founders, Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith

D) The crayons were packaged in a round tin decorated as the “Crayola Carousel”

B) Most are named by fashion designers, to coincide with the latest fashion colors

C) Most are chosen by “Color Marketing Specialists”, actual Crayola employees, whose job is to research color names

D) Most are taken from the U.S. Commerce Department's National Bureau of Standards book called "Color: Universal Language and Dictionary of Names"

8. What was unique about Crayola’s most senior crayon maker Emerson Moser?

C) He had the largest private crayon collection, all stolen from Crayola during the years he worked there

A) Crayola was downsizing the box, from 72 to 64, and so needed to eliminate 8 crayons

D) Crayola felt that the retired colors (and their names) were too dull to appeal to children

11. To celebrate its 100^th birthday, Crayola unveiled the world’s largest blue Crayola crayon. What was this crayon made of?

D) A cylindrical cake, covered with 100 blue candles, which would then be lit to celebrate the birthday

13. How many crayons does the average kid from North America use by the age of 10?

14.14. How many minutes a day does the average kid, ages 2-8 spend coloring?

15. Douglas Mehrens uses more crayons annually than anyone else in the world. What does he do with them?

C) As a much-sought-after artist, he colors wall murals in the homes of the rich and famous

D) As an entrepreneur, he affixes them to candles, making “Crayola Candles” which he then sells

17. A grandmother from Port Orchid, WA, won the actual 100 billionth Crayola crayon through a contest. What did she do with the crayon?

C) Sold it back to Binney & Smith, the company that manufactures Crayola crayons

19.19. What’s did renowned American Gothic artist Grant Wood have to do with Crayola?

PENCILS

21. Why are pencils often painted yellow?

23. What is a pencil "lead" really made of? Why do we call it lead?

24. How are most pencils in Europe different from those in the U.S.?

25. How many words can one pencil write?

LUNCHBOXES - So much more than a way to get your PB & J to school, the lunchbox of the 60s and 70s was a fashion statement, a glimpse into your pop-culture savvy. Answer these questions and see what you remember.

1. C) The name is from the French “craie” which means “chalk”, and “ola” because crayons are made from petroleum based paraffin - The name Crayola was coined by Alice Binney, wife of company founder Edwin, and a former school teacher. She combined the words craie, which is French for chalk, and ola, for oleaginous (meaning “oily”), because crayons are made from petroleum based paraffin. The Crayola brand name is recognized by 99 percent of Americans and is ranked 51st of all world brands (1991 Landor Image Power Survey) in terms of the brand's recognizability and consumers' esteem for the brand. Crayola is a registered trademark. But the company permits two individuals to "borrow" the name: Crayola Walker, Bellow Falls, VT, and Crayola Collins, Pulaski County, VA. Today, Binney & Smith is a subsidiary of Hallmark Cards, bought in 1984

2. B) 120 - Crayola crayons include 23 reds, 20 greens, 19 blues, 16 purples, 14 oranges, 11 browns, 8 yellows, 2 grays, 2 coppers, 2 blacks, 1 white, 1 gold and 1 silver. Although Crayola crayons come in 120 different colors, the labels are only made in 18, which cover the full color spectrum. Crayola crayons are made in several different sizes including boxes of 8, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64, 96 and 120

3. D) Blue - On Jan. 31, 2001, the results of Binney & Smith’s first online poll of consumer’s favorite Crayola crayon colors were revealed. After counting more than 25,000 votes cast by Crayola crayon fans of all ages in the Crayola Color Census 2000, the final tally revealed that Americans’ favorite Crayola crayon color is blue. Sixteen of America's 50 favorite crayon colors - and six of its Top 10 - are shades of blue: blue, cerulean, midnight blue, aquamarine, periwinkle, denim, blizzard blue, cornflower, blue green, Pacific blue, indigo, sky blue, Navy blue, robin egg blue, teal blue, blue bell. Other colors rounding out the Top 10 list included purple heart, caribbean green and cerise; finishing 50th among 50: laser lemon. To the Cherokee Indians, blue represents failure, although its worked out OK for the Toronto Blue Jays, St. Louis Blues and Columbus Blue Jackets - not to mention Carl Perkins, who wrote "Blue Suede Shoes," or Fats Domino, who wrote "Blueberry Hill," and of course, Elvis, who starred in Blue Hawaii and sang the title song.

5. C) The box contained 73 crayons - due to last minute package improvements, it actually contained 64 colors plus duplicates - 4 reds, 3 blues and 2 blacks!

6. B) Prussian blue, flesh, Indian red - Crayon color names rarely change. However, there are exceptions. In 1958, Prussian blue was changed to midnight blue in response to teacher recommendations that children could no longer relate to Prussian history. In 1962, the color flesh was changed to peach recognizing that not everyone's flesh is the same shade. In 1999, indian red was renamed chestnut to dispel the myth that the color was intended to represent the skin color of Native Americans. In 1972, 8 fluorescent colors were added - chartreuse, hot magenta, ultra blue, ultra green, ultra orange, ultra pink, ultra red, ultra yellow – but names were changed in 1990 to atomic tangerine, hot magenta, blizzard blue, screamin' green, outrageous orange, shocking pink, wild watermelon, laser lemon.

7. D) Most are taken from the U.S. Commerce Department's National Bureau of Standards book called "Color: Universal Language and Dictionary of Names." - Many crayon names are also borrowed from traditional artists' paints. In 1993, for the first time, consumers were invited to name 16 new Crayola crayon colors. Nearly 2 million suggestions were received. The 16 individuals whose names were chosen ranged in age from 5 to 89. Their names and ages later appeared on the crayons they named for a limited time. The 16 new color names included: purple mountain's majesty, razzmatazz, timber wolf, shamrock, cerise, Pacific blue, asparagus, tickle me pink, wisteria, denim, Granny Smith apple, mauvelous, tumbleweed, robin's egg blue, macaroni and cheese and tropical rain forest. In October, 1997, eight new crayon colors were issued commemorating people, identified through the Crayola Search for True Blue Heroes. In addition to being the first people in Crayola history to ever have crayons issued bearing their names, the eight heroes, selected from more than 10,000 submissions, were also inducted into the Crayola Hall of Fame. The new colors named by the True Blue Heroes included: outer space, mountain meadow, fuzzy wuzzy brown, brink pink, shadow, banana mania, torch red and purple heart. There are no crayons named after people

8. A) He was color blind - In 1990, after 37 years of service, Crayola products' most senior crayon maker Emerson Moser retired after molding a record 1.4 billion crayons. It was not until his retirement that he revealed a very well kept secret -- he was actually colorblind. The private crayon collection of Dr. William Mahaffey of Sandusky, Ohio, is, perhaps, the largest on record. The retired Navy doctor’s collection boasts a spectrum of over 725 colors--all catalogued by color and manufacturer, and all sporting perfect wax points never put to paper!

9. B) 24-count box - Although the 48, 64 and 96 boxes are larger, the 24-count Crayola box is the best seller. Crayola crayons are made in several different sizes including boxes of 8, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64, 96 and 120. Crayola crayons come in three sizes: regular, large and Kid's First, and three styles: regular, washable and specialty crayons. In February, 1998, the Crayola 64 crayon box celebrated its 40th birthday with the reintroduction of its original packaging, complete with built-in sharpener and original package graphics. To help celebrate the milestone, an actual 1958 Crayola crayon box, and an assortment of advertising spanning the century, became part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. Crayola box sizes are in accordance with industry standards set by the Art & Craft Material Institute to minimize confusion by consumers. Crayon stick sizes -- 3 5/8 " x 5/16" -- are also fairly standardized for the same reason.

10. D) Crayola felt that the retired colors (and their names) were too dull to appeal to children – the 8 colors were

blue gray, green blue, lemon yellow, maize, orange red, orange yellow, raw umber, and violet blue. The last 4 colors to be retired were mulberry, teal, magic mint and blizzard blue, in 2003 – and they were replaced with 4 new ones: wild blue yonder, inchworm, jazzberry jam, mango tango.

11. C) Used crayons sent in by children across the country – Children contributed their blue "Leftolas" to help Crayola break the current world record of 10-feet. The tiny blue bits of leftover crayon were collected as Crayola's 100th birthday bus, The Crayola ART-rageous Adventure, toured the country this year. This colossal crayon was 15-ft., and weighed in at 1,500 pounds!

12. C) 7 million - Binney & Smith, maker of Crayola products, produces nearly 3 billion crayons each year (an average of 12 million daily). That's enough to circle the globe 6 times. It would take about 400 million crayons to go around the world. Crayola executives point out that if all the crayons made in a single year were laid end-to-end along the equator, they would melt. In the last 98 years, more than 100 billion Crayola crayons have been made. In addition to making crayons, Binney & Smith makes 540 million Crayola colored pencils, 425 million markers, 90 million sticks of chalk, 6 million Silly Putty eggs, and 1.5 million jars of paint.

13. D) 730 - The average child in the United States will wear down 730 crayons by his 10th birthday (or 11.4 boxes of 64s). Those stubs are informally known as "Leftolas”. According to a report published by the Christian Science Monitor, parents buy enough crayons in a year to make a giant crayon 35 feet in diameter and 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty!

14. D) 28 minutes - Combined, children in the U.S. spend 6.3 billion hours coloring annually, almost 10,000 human lifetimes! It's no wonder, then, that a Yale University study revealed that the scent of Crayola crayons is among the twenty most recognizable scents to American adults, ranking 18th (coffee, peanut butter and Vicks VapoRub rank first, second and third).

15. A) Melts many of them for art - The Phoenix-based artist goes through about 24,000 a year, many of them melted, to complete his contemporary abstract works.

16. D) Fred Rogers - the crayon was a once in a lifetime color – blue ribbon – of which one million special 100 Billionth commemorative crayons were made and sold in special commemorative boxes.

17. C) Sold it back to Binney & Smith, the company that manufactures Crayola crayons - Darlene Martin sold it back to Binney & Smith for a $100,000 bond. The 100 billionth crayon now resides in the Crayola Hall of Fame in downtown Easton, PA.

18. A) A nickel - Sold in 1903, it included the same colors available in the eight-count box today: red, blue, yellow, green, violet, orange, black and brown. From 1903 until 1943, when a machine was invented to do the job, each and every label had to be rolled onto each and every crayon by hand. Today, the same box includes the same eight colors, and costs at least $1.25. It costs about a penny to make a crayon. On January 17, 1998, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled its stamp commemorating the introduction of Crayola crayons in 1903. The stamp features the original 8-count box.

19. D) He entered and won a Crayola coloring contest in the early 1900’s - Wood later commented that winning the contest gave him the encouragement he needed to pursue a career in art.

20. D) Markers, pencils and crayons – But art materials - like watercolors, drawing pads, gel pens, modeling putty, oil pastels, scissors, glue, play desks and doodle pads and sidewalk chalk - aren't the only items the Crayola brand name is found on. The name is licensed to more than 20 companies that make costumes, watches, clocks, children's clothes, stuffed animals, bedding, party wear, stationery items, flashcards, baby needs, disposable cameras, computer mice, cassette players, T-shirts, backpacks, rain hats, beach bags, denim shirts and even eye glasses! Crayola products are sold in more than 80 countries from the island of Iceland to the tiny Central American nation of Belize. They are packaged in 12 languages: English, French, Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, Japanese, Swedish and Norwegian. But it still makes most of its money selling markers, pencils and crayons.

21. B) To signify the pencil contained Chinese graphite - Pencils were originally unpainted, but around the 1890’s they began to be painted yellow to signify that their pencils contained Chinese graphite. At one time in history, Chinese graphite was considered to be the best in the world. Yellow was considered a color of royalty in China. Of pencils sold in the US, about 75 percent are painted yellow.

22. D) The metal ring that holds the eraser to the pencil - The ferrule and eraser are crimped into place on each pencil

23. C) Graphite and clay - it's a combination of finely ground graphite and clay, mixed with water and pressed together at high temperatures into thin rods. We call it lead is because the Englishmen who first discovered graphite believed they had found lead.

24. B) Most pencils in Europe do not come with erasers on the end

25. D) 45,000 – In addition, a pencil can draw a line 35 miles long! And the amazing thing is, it can do this in zero gravity, upside down, and under water!

26. B) The Disney School Bus - The Disney School Bus dome-style lunch box was manufactured from 1961-73 and became the top-selling lunch box of all time. And that's no baloney!

27. D) Hopalong Cassidy - Cowboy favorite Hopalong Cassidy graced the first decorated lunch box in 1950. The sales of this box launched the Aladdin company, which went on to become one of the biggest names in the lunchroom.

28. C)Albert Einstein - Woo hoo! Doh. While Bart and Lisa carry around Krusty the Klown lunch boxes, Martin's idol is slightly more sophisticated.

29. C) Metal lunch boxes were deemed dangerous to kids - A group of concerned moms said kids were causing injury by hitting each other over the head with lunch boxes. They convinced the state of Florida to ban the metal boxes in 1972, and by 1985, the last metal lunch box in the U.S. rolled off the assembly line Bottom of Form

30. A) Rambo - Ironically, Rambo appeared on the last of the "dangerous" metal lunch boxes, in 1985.

31. D) Didaskaleinophobia - lexophobia is the fear of reading; graphophobia is the fear of writing; and arithmophobia is the fear of numbers