The Fascinating History of Five Familiar Products
Below are five items that we are all familiar with that have been on store shelves for decades. We have bought and used them often, but have you ever wondered about their history? Each one has an interesting story that most people have never heard.
Below are five items that we are all familiar with that have been on store shelves for decades. We have bought and used them often, but have you ever wondered about their history? Each one has an interesting story that most people have never heard.
Crayola Crayons
In 1903, cousins Edwin Binney and Harold Smith produced their first box of Crayola crayons. The boxes sold for a nickel each and contained eight colours; red, green, yellow, orange, violet, blue, black, and brown. The name Crayola was invented by Edwin’s wife Alice by combining craie, the French word for chalk and ola, short for oleaginous meaning oily.Over the years Crayola crayons took on many changes. In 1958 the built-in sharpener was an innovative addition to the ever growing box of new colours.
Crayons were given unforgettable names like; Periwinkle, Purple Pizzazz, Razzle Dazzle Rose, Tickle Me Pink, Fuzzy Wuzzy Brown, Macaroni and Cheese, Tumbleweed, and Razzamatazz. In 1990, eight traditional crayons were replaced with new shades and the retired colours were then enshrined in the Crayola Hall of Fame. Protesters from such groups as CRAYON (Committee to Re-establish All Your Old Norms) and RUMPS (Raw Umber and Maize Preservation Society) helped convince Binney & Smith to bring those colours back out of retirement. In 1991 the eight retired crayons were reinstated. Binney & Smith released a limited 1 million boxes of the retired colours with the 64 crayon box. They were called “The Crayola Eight.”
Cream of Tartar
Cream of tartar is made from a type of sediment called argol that deposits on the inside walls of winemaking casks. McCormick & Company buys their cream of tartar from Italy where wine makers and casks are plentiful. The cream of tartar is retrieved from the empty barrels by tiny little people who are able to crawl through the small openings of empty wine casks where they scrape the residue left behind from fermented wine.
Another name for Cream of Tartar is Potassium Bitartrate. It is also used in the making of tin plate metals, baking soda, and in laxatives and if stored properly, Cream of Tartar has an indefinite shelf life.
Ivory Soap
Harley Procter, the producer of Ivory Soap, was looking for a new formula that could compete with the then popular castile soaps. He consulted his cousin, chemist James Gamble who formulated an appealing white creamy bar. Soon after the production (only one day), the factory worker who ran the master mixer forgot to switch off the machine before taking his lunch break.
Great article. Fascinating info.
Interesting article Darlene!
Best wishes,
GJ
Interesting article
That was very informative and interesting too!
You’ve planted a picture of tiny elfin beings in my head, which has sprouted into a short fairytale. This is really interesting stuff. I love the names they originally gave to Crayola colours, and I even love the way the name ‘crayola’ was constructed. And what would we do without wd40?
very interesting…thanks for posting.
I love the WD40 one. I never weave home without it!
Very informative, Darlene! Great article!
Very informative and interesting article, Darlene.
Very interesting article! Thanks for the information.
Thanks everyone for taking time to read. Don’t know why but I laboured long over this one. It makes it all worthwhile though when I read your encouraging comments.
Thank you.
Interesting article! Thanks and take care!
really interesting!! great article~!
Great article and very interesting. I too like what the names of crayons used to be, fuzzy wuzzy brown would have to be my favorite name. LOL Great job, keep up the great work.
Very interesting, strange how we use items every day and we have no idea how they came about. The cream of tatar surprised me most.
Interesting, fun, informative article. Nice work Darlene!
Best wishes.
Sincerely,
-Liane Schmidt.
You forgot to mention that chewing gum can be used to fix dams (as shown on TV) even though it doesn’t make much sense. Maybe you should watch more commercials.
Good research and fascinating article. Did Speed Limit see the end of the commercial, where the water spewed out? lol
I learned some pretty interesting things here! So interesting, thanks.
Very informative and I thought I Knew everything. This took a lot of research on your part and you presented it very well…as usual. Thank you Darlene.
Darlene,
I have long wondered how some of these products came about. Now I know!!! Very good writing. I can see you did a lot of research on this. Really, really good.