I don't think anything takes me back to my childhood quicker than a box of crayons, and for me there was no other brand than Crayola. We didn't have much money in my family while growing up, but I still had to have Crayolas, not any other brand.
The others just didn't "color" right. One good thing about Crayolas -- they were affordable for everyone. We didn't always get indulged with the 64 box, but that's okay -- I never used all of them anyway! Crayola must have been the start of brand name recognition for me and millions of other kids across the nation. AND what did you do with your old crayons, did you just throw them away? I'll bet not! Cigar boxes full of old broken stubs of crayons were always in my room, just dump those crayons into the box and start out school with a brand new box every year!
Today collectors are crazy about Crayola. Collectors can find lots of goodies to satisfy their quest for these colorful collectibles. Crayola has licensed products with Dept. 56 and Hallmark. The Polar Palette Art Center is a bright building made to fit into the North Pole Series of building from Dept. 56. Accessories include Leonardo & Vincent which is two elves at an easel and Cruisin' Crayola Elves, a two piece set of elves driving Crayola shaped vehicles.
Hallmark had a long running series of Crayola ornaments that ended with the tenth piece Bright Sledding Colors issued in 1998. All of these pieces have appreciated at least several times the issue price. In 2000 Hallmark brought the crayons back with two new Crayola ornaments. The King of the Ring ornament is a plastic ornament with a Lion sitting on a circus pedestal for $10.95 and the Backpack Bear, a blown glass ornament with a Crayola backpack for $30. In 2001 the Color Crew Chief is the Hallmark licensed ornament.
There are licensed items such as clocks, clothing, toys and most prolific of all are the tin boxes filled with the crayon products.
