
Crayola Once Made a Set of ‘State Crayons,’ and Iowa’s is Rare and Special
I seemingly specialize in venturing down random rabbit-holes and finding out about eclectic individuals. After all, I am the guy who wrote extensively about Don Gorske, the Wisconsin man who has eaten over 34,000 Big Macs. Now, I'm fixated on crayons after a quirky Facebook reel my girlfriend sent to me. And there's an Iowa connection!
This is a windy story, so bear with me here. Facebook user LaKenzo is a collector of Crayola crayons and crayon-related memorabilia. In a recent video, she showed off Crayola's State Crayon Collection box-set she found at a thrift-store. It's a 50-crayon set that has a state-specific crayon, with cutesy names and bright colors.
Some of the names of the crayons in this set are absolutely hilarious:
- Mississippi Mud Pie
- West Virginia Coal Miner
- Wyoming Yellowstone
- Massachusetts Boston Tea Party
- Illinois Abe Lincoln's Hat
- Wisconsin Moovalous Cheese
There's also a handful of "bonus" crayons that are named after signature American customs/items, such as "Mom's Apple Pie," "Orange You Glad You're in America?," "Greenback," "Dawn's Early Light." Full disclosure for curious parties: this set is extremely difficult to find. As of this writing, I cannot find a single set, complete or incomplete, available anywhere online.
I can only attribute this to the fact that not only is it 20 years old, but consider that crayons are mostly used by kids. Most of these crayons probably found themselves broken, lost, or used down to the nubs.
Anyway, LaKenzo showed off her set and noted that her favorite Crayola crayon, "Dandelion," was discontinued in 2017. She noticed in the set that Iowa's crayon, cutely named A-maize-ing Iowa, was an exact copy of Crayola's Dandelion crayon. She even colored swatches on a notecard to show that Iowa's "State Crayon" was the very same color.
Now, here's where it gets interesting. There's a crayon in Crayola's State Collection set called "Yankee Doodle Dandelion." That crayon, as LaKenzo notes, is not the same as Crayola's trademark Dandelion. It is far lighter in color; a pale yellow that almost looks like a light beige depending on how the light hits it.
LaKenzo got to work, and broke out her 64-crayon set to color-match each of the yellows in the State Crayon box with their generic accompaniments. She discovered that "Yankee Doodle Dandelion" is actually the same color as Crayola's "Banana Mania" crayon, while Iowa's "A-maize-ing Iowa" crayon was indeed Dandelion.
Writing all of this out not only makes me sound like a madman, but makes me realize that watching this investigative discovery into Crayola's State Crayon Collection makes it easier to digest. Check out LaKenzo's Facebook reel here!
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Gallery Credit: Steve Pulaski