Back-to-school must-have.
With all the back-to-school purchases in the last couple of weeks, I couldn’t help buying one for me, a box of 64 crayons. My mom never extended her pocketbook to more than a 24 pack so I always bought my own box of 64 with birthday money. I couldn’t surround myself with enough fresh waxy color. A big new box feels like coming home to a fancy clean house. I am energized and I am happy, just like Charles Schulz expressed on a page from his “happiness is” book: Happiness is a new box of crayons.
My collection.
My happy, colorful purchase more than delivered. I keep the box next to me on my makeshift desk on the dining room table, still not sure what I will create. I never expected it to be an invitation for my older teen to engage in a conversation with me.
“What are you going to do with that box of crayons?” “I don’t know. Use ‘em for my blog. Just look at them.” He starts fiddling around with box, pulling out colors here and there. I’m growing a little uneasy. I can’t believe I still have feelings about moving the colors from their original position. This dates back to about third grade.
“Hey, does it still have a sharpener on the back,” he asks while turning the box over. Funny, but I checked for that deluxe feature too.
“I bet I can guess which color you never use,” my son offers. I know exactly which one he will choose and I know he will be wrong. He pulls out the olive green thinking it’s ugly and therefore un-useable by mom. “Nope. That’s for coloring wicked witch skin.” He senses a challenge. “Ok, how about this one, golden rod.” “Nope that’s for coloring in the fields of dried yellow grasses in the fall.” “Burnt Sienna?” “Wow. They still have that one? Autumn leaves.” “Spring green?” “Nope. Flower stems because the grass is plain green.”
Guess: wild strawberry, red, red-violet?
My older son mixes up the box even more by pulling out three red crayons: wild strawberry, violet-red and red. “You know that women can identify distinct colors and men can’t? I saw it on the brain-facts show.” I knew that even without any formal experiments; I guess some guys needed to prove it to themselves and put it on TV.
In our in-home test, I failed, hmm. I could tell the reds were different, but not by name. I am a little out of coloring-crayon practice.
I heard my son give the “red” test to my husband. I also heard him take out the olive-green crayon and say, “Dad, did you know this is for wicked witch skin? That’s what mom says.” He’s chuckling and carrying on with his dad over coloring crayon facts. I think he’s going to pass this down to his own kids when he’s sitting around drawing pictures with them. “Ya know what this color is made for, wicked witch skin. My mom came up with that one.”
What’s an envelope for anyway?
Later, I asked my younger teen what his favorite color was in a box of 64 crayons. “Turquoise blue,” he said without hesitation. “Where’s that box? I wanna see if it’s still in there.” He pulls it out of the box and scribbles madly on an envelope. As if reading my mind, “Hey, is the sharpener still on the back? I’ll sharpen it back up for you.” How did he know I was feeling anxious about my new crayon not looking new? He pulls out another crayon, “Sky Blue? That’s new.” “Ah, no it’s not. That’s been around as long as me. Check out mac and cheese, that’s new.” He couldn’t wait to relay the goofy fact to his dad.
I decided to turn the 64-crayola question to my hubby and older son. “What is your favorite color in a box of 64 crayons?” I learned something new about both of them. My hubby likes purple. My older son doesn’t have a favorite because he needs to leave room to create, “It depends on the project.” He did have a favorite marker, neon electric blue.
For me, my favorite color is magenta. I use it for special things like flowers, the dress on a princess or my shirt on a self-portrait. I think I have 50 shades of magenta in my closet.
Great inspirations.
Wow, you sure can learn a lot about a person with a new box of crayons, including yourself. Charles Schulz is right, “Happiness is a new box of crayons.” My impulse and impractical purchase proved it for every age, even teenagers. Put that fact on TV.
What’s your favorite color in a box of 64 crayons?
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happiness in a box, love the crayola factory in PA.
I can’t remember my favorite but I always hated Burnt Sienna. I never found a good use for it!
Leaves don’t change color in New Orleans? Missed out.;-)
In a catholic family of six sisters and hand me down uniforms, a box of 12 crayola crayons was the only thing I remember that was new on the first day of school!
All the more special! New crayons are the best from an 8 pack or more.
And what about the new box of crayon smell? Did you sniff it? Takes you right back to 1st grade.
Ha! You are right. New crayon smells are part of the package and I missed it!
Every now and then my mom would splurge and get me a 64 pack (like when I got my tonsils out). I was really into all shades of purple back in the day, but magenta was always beautiful too.
By the way, I beg to differ on color and gender… Richard is way more into it than I. I once wanted to paint our bathroom and he wanted me to read a 300 page book on color so I knew which shade to pick. Needless to say the bathroom never got painted!
Ahh, that’s sweet of your mom to treat you to a big box of crayons. Funny story about Richard and the bathroom. Need to include that in the experiment!
I always liked the blue-grey color Cloudy, but it sounds like Crayola has made some changes over the years. Is Mac ‘n Cheese really a color now?
You got that right, Crayola changed a lot of colors. Do you remember Indian red? It’s Chestnut now. It’s more pc even though the color was in reference to the color of India. Fun researching this blog topic…And yes, mac and cheese really is a color. I think it took Yellow-Orange’s spot. Thanks for stopping by!
I too loved getting new crayons, always loved yellow, just plain yellow. It’s happy like sunshine! Thx Francie!
I too only remember only getting to buy a 12 pack. There was no option to buy the big packs and I don’t think I ever thought to ask. My parents were born during the depression and as a result we lived modestly. Francie thanks for sharing a similar story.
To this day, I still remember the wonder of a new box of crayons…all the points…oh the awesome colors, and rearranging the colors, multiple times, to be in a pleasing order. Prussian blue…to this day, I remember that name when I see our San Francisco Bay that color. How I didn’t want my brothers anywhere near my new box of crayons. Guess what! I’d forgotten…I have a hidden, secret box of crayons to this day! I think I’ll go admire them!! Thanks, Francie!
Hilma. What a thoughtful response. I enjoyed hearing about your connection to Prussian blue and rediscovering your hidden box of crayons. Funny how the color names change with the times. Thanks for stopping by! Francie