Can you tell me the history of Silly Putty?

Silly Putty was discovered in 1943 by James Wright who mixed boric acid and silicone oil together. It was introduced to the public in 1950 by Peter Hodgson. Crayola acquired the exclusive manufacturing rights to Silly Putty in 1977. Although the exact formulas Crayola uses to make Silly Putty are proprietary, we can share it is made primarily from silicone and color pigments. 

Click hereto learn more about the birth of Silly Putty! This video works best in Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. 

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Popular Questions

Because Crayola Marker components are securely sealed during the manufacturing process, we don’t recommend trying to remove the marker nib and reservoir to recycle the barrel. The marker caps can be recycled at facilities that accept #5 plastic. 

Green is more than just a colour to us! Click here to learn more about Crayola’s sustainability initiatives.

Crayola Canada’s community relations program supports non-profit organizations located across Canada, with an emphasis on the arts and education.

How To Apply

Requests for donations must be submitted on your organization’s letterhead with your contact information by email, or mail. If sending your request by email, you will receive an automatic reply acknowledging that your email has been received. If you do not receive this confirmation within 5 business days, please call Amanda Pascoe at Crayola Canada. 

Email:apascoe@​crayola.​com
Phone Number: 1−705−212−4399
 

Mailing Address:

Crayola Canada
Donations Department
P.O. Box 120
15 Mary St. West
Lindsay, Ontario
K9V 4R8
Attn: Amanda Pascoe

What To Include

We ask that you include the following required information in your letter:

  • Date of your event
  • If you require confirmation earlier than one month prior to your event, please provide us with a time frame needed to receive a response.
  • Details of your event
  • Shipping Address
  • Telephone number, if we need to contact you
  • Contact person’s name, phone, and email address
  • What you would like to receive – i.e., door prize, art supplies for craft area, etc.


Please be advised that it may take up to three weeks for your request to be reviewed. Only organizations selected to receive a donation will be contacted.

Crayola® Crayons are made using primarily paraffin wax and colour pigment. While the basic ingredients remain consistent across all colours, variations may occur in special effects crayons. 

Our crayons are crafted through a process that involves melting paraffin wax and blending it with colour pigments. This mixture is then poured into molding machines where it solidifies in four to seven minutes. For a behind the scenes look of the Crayola Crayon manufacturing process, check out our video, You’ve Got Crayola Crayons. 

Dry Model Magic:

  • Paint with Crayola Watercolour, Tempera, Acrylic, and washable paints or decorated with Crayola Markers.

Wet Model Magic:

  • Colour with watercolour paint and markers; however, the colours will be lighter, and the pieces may take longer to dry.
  • Add colour before modeling by kneading drops of watercolour, tempera, acrylic, or washable paints into the compound.
  • Create your own colours by mixing white and different colours of Model Magic.

Throughout Crayola’s history, several crayon colours have been retired, marking significant moments in the evolution of our vibrant palette. 

1990
For the first time in Crayola history eight colours were retired and placed in the Crayola Hall of Fame: blue gray, green blue, lemon yellow, maize, orange red, orange yellow, raw umber, and violet blue. 

Eight new colours were added: cerulean, dandelion, fuchsia, jungle green, royal purple, teal blue, vivid tangerine, and wild strawberry. 

2003
Celebrating a century of bringing colour to the world, Crayola introduced four new colours named by Crayola fans! To make room for the new hues, we bid farewell to blizzard blue, magic mint, mulberry, and teal blue. 

The four new colours that were introduced are: inchworm, jazzberry jam, mango tango, and wild blue yonder. 

Kudos to our hue heroes – the consumers who voted in the ​“Save the Shade” campaign, ensuring burnt sienna stayed in the pack. 

2017
To mark National Crayon Day on March 31st, we announced Dandelion was leaving the pack. To honor this iconic colour, we sent Dandelion on a retirement tour to his favorite places. His replacement, Bluetiful, was announced on May 5, 2017.

The basic ingredients in Crayola Markers are water and dye. A common experiment is to use paper chromatography to separate the dyes. When performing this experiment, you will find that not all Crayola Marker colours separate into different colours due to the nature of dyes utilized in creating marker colours. (Brown, violet and green markers work best). For example, only one dye is used to make our red colour marker, but a number of dyes are used to make our brown colour marker. In a chromatography experiment, the brown will separate into different colours; however, the red will not. A craft involving chromatography is available on our web site at chromatography craft.

Crayola® produces nearly 3 billion crayons each year, an average of twelve million daily. That’s enough to circle the globe 6 times! In addition to making crayons, Crayola makes 600 million Crayola Coloured Pencils, 465 million markers, 110 million sticks of chalk, 9 million Silly Putty eggs, and 1.5 million jars of paint. 

While there are currently no plans to hold a United Way sale, Crayola Canada remains committed to supporting the United Way and continues to explore alternative initiatives