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Where are they now?
Like a kid
writing a Christmas list to Santa, I find myself often
compiling a list of crayon
boxes I'd like to see show up. Sure, I'd want them
in my collection, but
just to know that one still exists somewhere in the
world (and if I can get a
photo of it for this web site) is enough. As
collectors, we only know
what we know - which is true for life. But, in the
world of collecting,
sometimes we know more than what we can produce
physically. With anything
that no longer exists, there may be a mountain of
research material available
to identify and understand it even though it may not
physically exists - sort
of like 6 of the 7 wonders of the world. Things
like price lists,
catalogs, magazine ads, photographs, books,
point-of-purchase materials all
serve to identify crayon items that may or may not still
exist. Here are
some examples:
1.
Any
of
Charles A. Bowley's crayon
boxes - Charles A. Bowley
made "toy" wax
crayons wrapped in attractive packages for the use of
children from his home
factory near Danvers, MA in the late 1880s. Demand
was so great that
eventually he couldn't meet production and ended up
using American Crayon Co.
to adopt the manufacture - which led to their original
1902 line of wax
crayons. Not
a single box has ever
surfaced of Mr. Bowley’s
own production though.
I wonder if they were the same ones from the
1902 American Crayon catalog and what was different?
2.
Any
of
Franklin’s Original Crayons from 1883 on
– Going
back to at least 1883, Franklin crayons are documented
but still a bit of a
mystery. First
of all, were they making
crayons before 1883?
Their company goes
clear back to 1876 which would make them the earliest
referenced crayon company
producing wax crayons in the country if they
did. Still,
we have some examples with
pictures, fortunately but we are not sure just how many
brands and boxes they
produced in these pioneering times.
3. Any
of the original
crayon boxes in the 1902 American Crayon Co. catalog - It is fortunate
that we have pictures of
all of these from their price list but I have yet to see
all but one of these
surface after all these years. As with most of the
crayon manufacturers
during pre WWI era, crayon box designs were many and
changed often. A
good timestamp indicator for American Crayon Co. is
their "American"
trademark. They used this only until 1915 and then
switched over to the
"Old Faithful" name. But not all of their original
line up even
used that trademark. Here are some examples from
the catalog:
4. Crayola
No 8 by Fu Sang
Crayola Co Hong Kong
- This one is
a mystery. Apparently it is in the archives at the
historical society in
Washington DC as part of a huge donation of Binney
& Smith materials. My understanding is that
they have some actual
boxes in the archives and either this is one of them, or
this is merely a
document of boxes from some point and then just kept
with the rest of the paper
documentation. The documentation is purely copies
of other competitor's
products. Next to the picture, somebody wrote
"How'd we get this
one?". Indeed, it has a
front and back copy
of the box. I can find no information on the Fu
Sang Crayola Co.
Somebody wrote 1956 on the back of the box in the "Name"
field.
Supposedly they claim to have a trademark for the "57"
inside a
diamond. One would think that Crayola would have
had something to say
about the use of "Crayola" by this point - perhaps they
had them
discontinue this. Perhaps this was made by Binney
& Smith as a novelty. Perhaps it was some sort
of subsidiary
experiment overseas. Perhaps we'll never know, and
that makes it an
interesting box of crayons!
5. Crayola
Flying Star - Here is another
copy of a box from the
archives in Washington. It would appear that this
is an older
commemorative box similar to what was done later for
their Kansas
facility. Other than this copy though, nobody
seems to have ever heard of
this box or the Flying Star factory. The box can
be dated from around
1946-49 based on the Crayola box design.
6. All
boxes from the
"infamous 13" picture - A lot of speculation has gone into this
picture. This was
glued on to the inside of Bonnie's
1904 The Art of
Crayola booklet. At first, one would speculate
that if it was from 1904,
then these would have to be the first Crayola boxes,
right? But, further
analysis lead to the conclusion that this was taken
later. Perhaps the
most tell-tale evidence of that are the Ruben's
boxes. Not only were
Rubens introduced much later than 1904 (around 1915-18),
but this picture
features two different box designs. At some point
they changed ol' Ruben to
look to the right instead of to the
left. This picture features both box
designs. Still, let's consider
the 13 boxes:
1.
Crayola No 41 - What can you say about this one - only
two known, only canister
Crayola did, Victoria girl on back, 4 cities
listed. Very
early, very rare.
2. Crayola No 46 - Very early box. Green
color not used in later
boxes. Victorian girl on back, 4 cities
listed. 3 or 4 of these
exist, only one I know of with the coloring book
intact. None I know of
with the flap intact.
3. Crayola No 47 - Very early box. It is
very large. Only two known.
Victorian girl on back, 4 cities
listed.
4. Crayola No 49 - Very early box. Only one known
(Smithsonian). Victorian girl
on back.
5. Crayola No 51 - Very early box. At least
6 of these are
known. Victorian girl on
back. Lists all
crayon colors on box.
6. Crayola No 53 - Very early box. Four
cities listed, Victorian
girl on back. 4 - 6 known, but only a couple with
flap.
7. Crayola No 55 - Very early box. Four
cities listed. Green color.
Victorian girl on back.
Only one known.
8. Crayola No 57 - Very early box. Four
cities listed. Victorian girl
on back. Only one
known.
9. Crayola No 100 - Very
early box.
Four cities listed. Crayons listed (and tie to No
51). "Use of Crayola" writing
on back. Only one
known and this one is missing top tuck flap that has the
Crayola and number
portion.
10. Rubens No 6 -
Earlier Rubens box with
Ruben looking left. 6 or 7 of these
known.
11. Rubens No 12 -
Earlier Rubens box with
Ruben looking left. Only 3 or
4 of these known.
12. Rubens No 18 -
Earlier Rubens box with
Ruben looking left. Only 3 or
4 of these known.
13. Rubens No 24 – Earliest of Rubens box with
Ruben looking right.
Well over a dozen of these are known if not more.
7.
Any other unpictured
Item - Ok, this pretty much lumps everything
else into one bucket.
But let me give you some specific boxes to consider:
- Crayola No
500 Snowbound toy set
- Crayola No 501 Little Boy Blue toy set
- Crayola No 504 Elfin toy set
- Crayola Baby Snookums
Color Set
- Crayola No 509 Little Women Color & Sewing Box
- Perma No 181 in metal box
- Spectra No 151 in metal box
- Boston No 22 in metal box
- Anything
from Eclipse Crayons, Bott's
Manufacturing
There are
probably hundreds more that I don't even know about as
well. Part of the
fun is in the discovery and pursuit though!