Sean and I have just returned from a trip to the US. We visited family, as we do on most of our vacations. We also visited the Crayola Experience, one of the coolest companies in the world.
First you must know, I am a crayon snob. I have tried cheap crayons. I have tried expensive crayons. Crayola tops all, and at a good price. They take pride in what they do. They do it inexpensively. They also look beyond the product and the profit to the world.
My love of Crayola began early in life. It has only increased. Everyone loves crayons; the feel and smell (excepting scented crayons- yuck. I am a purist.) have not changed in the 100 years of the company. Little has changed, with the exception of a few name changes. The most famous of these was the change from "flesh" to peach, but, as Robert Fulghum wrote, this was an improvement. I bought a set of flesh toned pencils for sketching at the gift shop. With them, alone or blended, I can draw the world.
In 1996, Crayola made its 100 billionth crayon. It was called blue ribbon, a periwinkle blue hue. Periwinkle is my favourite Crayola color. Mr. Rogers was invited to mold the actual crayon. It seemed appropriate. With this Crayola issued 96 count special boxes. They had gold, silver, and red foil wrappers to be found for prizes. The actual 100 billionth crayon was included with a special wrapper. It makes me think of the golden tickets in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl. Instead of Charlie, Ms. Darlene Martin found the crayon, and "sold" it back to Crayola for a $100,000 bond. It is now in the Crayola hall of fame.
Crayola uses solar power. Their materials come from renewable sources. For the wood in the coloured pencils, for every tree crayola cuts down, the same breed of tree is planted. Crayola shops locally, and saves on shipping costs and gasoline. They recycle. They are a positive place at which to work, and they care enough to pass their own savings onto their customers. If it is possible for my love of all things Crayola to have grown, then my love has increased tenfold.
Before we stopped I told the kids not to expect that we'd buy anything in the gift shop. All too often, company gift shops are more expensive than stores because everyone wants something from the gift shop. Not so Crayola. The prices and selection were excellent.
You can no longer tour the Crayola Factory. Like Willy Wonka, Crayola had to close its factory to the public due, not to liability, but to corporate espionage. Everyone wants to be Crayola! And why not? The uniform for those working at the Crayola Experience is tie-dye. They give out free samples to happy, smiling people. The exhibits are fun and interactive. I love my free crayons, with special box, and my purple marker. The kids and I made art. I wrote on walls and floors. Jesse said he felt like he was five as he walked through the exhibits with a huge smile on his face. Looking around not a single person had anything but a smile on his/her face.
By the way, I've asked Sean to plan my birthday party there. Hope you'll come.
Check out Robert Fulghum- Here's a piece of his essay on crayons. He is also the creator of "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten." Check him out.
ReplyDelete“Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon. A happiness weapon. A beauty bomb. And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one. It would explode high in the air - explode softly - and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air. Floating down to earth - boxes of Crayolas. And we wouldn't go cheap, either - not little boxes of eight. Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in. With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest. And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with imagination.”
Thank you Mr. Fulghum.