The colors of Crayolas

Enjoying he mulberry jam yesterday got me remembering the Crayola crayon called Mulberry.

I had never seen or eaten a mulberry, let alone made mulberry jam, but I knew the color, because of that Mulberry crayon.

Now I see to my disgust and distaste that the Mulberry crayon has been eliminated!

There is available a fascinating list of Crayola crayon colors, and the years of their service. Mulberry was discontinued in 2003.

I used to like the Crayola crayons with the square old names. Mulberry, I mean, who had seen a mulberry. But you knew the color. There was the subtle distinction between Green Blue and Blue Green. They retired Green Blue in 1990. Maize also was retired. You cannot expect kids to know what maize is. They would not even be able to spell it.

However. Yellow Green, and Green Yellow both hang on. That is good news! Orange Red survives, too. But though Yellow Orange survives, Orange Yellow does not. Red Orange, too, bit the big one.

Are you writing this down? I hope so.

I remember Thistle. Thistle, a pale lavender, was retired. It dated from 1949. That seems to have been an important year for Crayola crayons. A lot of them dated from 1949.

Now there are new colors like Outrageous Orange, Piggy Pink and Mango Tango. There is a drink Pennario liked called Mango Tango. I will always think of him. There is a color called Fuzzy Wuzzy that debuted in in 1998. Macaroni and Cheese, Magic Mint or Mauvelous. Shadow, Shamrock, Razzmatazz ....

I think Crayolas have been a little dumbed down, you know?

I will always love Crayola crayons though. I do confess loyalty to the brand. I have a big box of new Crayolas in front of me right now. They inspire me in my book. I use them in outlines and such, as I go over Leonard Pennario's life.

Perhaps some day they will bring back Mulberry!

And Thistle. And Maize.

I dream in color!