Overall the packaging was in great condition and while some of the crayons were broken in half, the only crayon that was missing was the black. There was only two small pieces of the black.

The shape of these crayons is a flat rectangular shape so there are lots of edges to use for drawing and coloring.

The two images above show the full range of colors. There is actually a great range of colors in this set. When testing these, they definitely felt like a traditional wax crayon but the color deposit seemed a little better than a Crayola but its been years since I used a classic Crayola crayon so I’m just guessing here based on my memory. The big sticks of crayon is really fun to use and allows for a nice shading option.

Using the side of the crayon allowed me to shade in color and then used the corners or edges to create lines. Because of the shapes, its sometimes a little less precise then a round or pointed tool but it was sort of fun to be a little more loose and free with these.

While I don’t expect to use these a lot its so fun to see the quality of materials produced decades ago.

I did find a box of these crayons on Ebay at $7 right now in much better shape than the set I got.

Do you ever pick up old art or office supplies at thrift stores or yard sales? What was your best score? Share with us in the comments!

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Are these not the most beautifully old school looking crayons? Well, guess what? They are not vintage. I bought them just before Christmas at the local Hallmark shop. They are super smooth crayons perfect for labeling boxes, ceramic, plastic, and just about anything else.

Tested on a piece of scrap paper found in the Desk. I recognize the marks from many an auction and thrift store.

Sold eight per box for about $2.50. Found in boxes of all black or all red.

(via Me on Flickr)

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Pardon me while I plug the firm for a moment. For those who don’t know yet, I work full-time as a designer at Hallmark (the Well-Appointed Desk is my passion but not my income) and Hallmark owns this lovely little company called Crayola.

Crayola is what I like to think of as the gateway drug for office supplies. I fondly recall the heady aroma of a brand new box of crayons in the big yellow box with the built-in sharpener. As an anal-retentive designer-in-training, the first thing I did was reorganize all my crayons by color. I looked forward to every August and Back-to-School for my new box of crayons, new shoes and a new backpack, not to mention erasers, notebooks and folders. So I thought I might share a few little-known facts about Crayola’s commitment to, not only children, but to the environment:

• A billion Crayola crayons and 500 million Crayola markers are made using power from the company’s solar farm made up of more than 33,000 solar panels
• Recycled plastic is used to make Crayola marker
• Crayola’s colored pencils are manufactured with reforested wood.  For every tree that’s used, they plant another tree of the same species.

(photo from Jo’s in the Know, factoids from Crayola via the Hallmark)

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Sometimes, the most inspiring thing in the world is the endless possibilities held within a brand new box of crayons.

Illustration by Jenny Bowers

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Carved crayons by Diem Chau. Clearly demonstrating that the medium can be the message — or in this case the medium can be the art.

via www.diemchau.com

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