This year, the Crayola 64 ct crayon box turns 50!
So they introduced some new crayon colors. Check ‘em out!
I got a box to play with (of course) and I’m pretty frustrated that I can’t figure out what color the various colors are. I meant, “Paint the Town” is a J. Crew color, but you paint the town red so, you at least know it’s red. I mean, what color, exactly, is Bear Hug?! Well, here’s the report:
Awesome: would have been awesome in 1985! Bright florescent orange red
Giving Tree: oddly similar to the discontinued Jungle Green, but not as bright. Slightly brighter than regular green.
Famous: A pinkish-purple magenta-y color. Like, if red violet were lighter. It would be cooler if it had glitter.
Fun in the Sun: A bright, happy orange.
Super Happy: Very similar to the long-ago discontinued Lemon Yellow. However, I think this one should be “fun in the sun” and the orange one “super happy.”
Best Friends: a nice, dark lavender that reminds me a lot of the cover to My Last Best Friend by Julie Bowe
Happy Ever After: a nice dark blue with a hint of gray– my favorite of the bunch
Bear Hug: a gray with a hint of brown to it. An odd color that I like. Almost moss-like.
I’m most happy about the inclusion Happy Ever After and Bear Hug– they’re darker, subtler, and ultimately, cooler, than a lot of the colors Crayola has introduced in the past.
What are your thoughts?
April 22, 2008 at 9:36 am |
If any of my old 64-count boxes (which, in my time-lapsed mind, I remember as being about the size of a VCR) contained colors named after emotions or concepts instead of physical objects or, you know, actual colors, I don’t remember them.
I suppose this is a side effect of today’s crayons being named by marketing experts, who are probably personally more interested in emotions and concepts than in physical objects. Doesn’t seem sustainable, though.
April 22, 2008 at 10:06 am |
Yeah, they weren’t.
If you go to the website where you can see the colors, you get the “explanation” which is severely unhelpful.
The description for Awesome? “Kids feel well about doing well in school”
LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME.
But, try to color quizzer. There, they show you one of the 64 box crayons and you have to guess the color– you can tell which are the classics (they have such names as orange red, sky blue, and yellow green) and which are the newer ones (macaroni and cheese)
April 23, 2008 at 5:43 pm |
Do we know what colors they removed to make way for Awesome and company?
Mike, a VCR or 2 VCR tapes stacked together?
According to that quiz, I am a certified COLOR GENIUS. All bow down before my 64-color knowledge! Best discovery is that the *markers* are also now available in 64-color packs, a $13 retail value.
But seriously, it reminds me of that toothpaste commercial where the kindergarten teacher asks, “What color are my teeth?” and the kids reply, “Beige? Taupe? Ecru?” At least those *are* colors, though; I have a hard time imagining kids asking each other to “please pass the Awesome” . . .
April 24, 2008 at 9:48 am |
plrs – I think you’re right, the kids will ignore the color names and just ask each other to pass the bright red crayon, or, “No, not that one, the other red.” But imagining them saying “Please pass the Awesome” is really funny anyway.
April 24, 2008 at 11:24 am |
PLRS– They haven’t said which ones were removed, I think because they weren’t retired– presumably they’re still available in the larger count boxes.
I can just imagine the following conversation:
Kid 1: Gimme the bear hug!
Kid 2: (gives a bear hug)
Kid 1: THE CRAYON! STOP TOUCHING ME!
April 24, 2008 at 11:24 am |
Also– the new colors are ONLY available in the 64 ct box, not the larger ct boxes. At least, if the crayon selection at my local Staples is any indication.
April 30, 2008 at 7:32 pm |
wow. i knew awesome had a color.
i don’t know – maybe kids are just more abstract than us close-minded adults. more likely, though, as mike said, it’s probably some marketing execs trying to hold on to their sweet crayola jobs.
May 9, 2008 at 3:06 pm |
but dude, in the 90s, we had Royal Purple and Cerulean (sorry for that high-potential misspell), and that made life good.
I highly doubt that Awesome has a color, and I think that kids these days will laugh at that too. At least, my pre-teens in my classes do.
May 11, 2008 at 3:36 pm |
Oh, AWESOME has a color. It is what happens every time the sun hits, and light reflects off my own skin!