# Crayola expands the skin tones to 32 colors **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 21, 2022, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996 "2022-09-21T17:07:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996/21 "2022-09-21T23:01:26Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Is “Indian Red” not a real colour name? > [@](#): > > this color was actually named for a pigment that originated in India. Over the years, teachers began to worry that children would see the crayon as a reference to American Indians’s skin color. Source: > **[5 Times Crayola Fired Their Crayons](https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/22405/5-times-crayola-fired-their-crayons)** > > Crayons of yore have a revisionist history unto themselves. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996/22 "2022-09-22T00:28:41Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Is there a list of the new skin colors? Is pale, sweaty, white guy, on there? Here is a list. They have gone as far as possible to make sure they do not reference any ethnic name: - Medium Almond - Deepest Almond - Medium Deep Rose - Extra Deep Golden - Light Medium Almond - Extra Deep Rose - Light Medium Rose - Extra Deep Almond - Light Almond - Very Deep Almond - Light Rose - Deep Golden - Light Medium Golden - Medium Deep Golden - Very Light Almond - Deep Almond - Light Golden - Very Deep Rose - Very Light Rose - Deep Rose - Very Light Golden - Medium Deep Almond - Extra Light Almond - Medium Golden ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996/23 "2022-09-23T13:48:12Z")
I’m sure I remember “flesh” crayons being around in the early 1970s, but perhaps this is a Mandela Effect thing. And yet I also remember at some point early on they became “peach”. So either there were a lot of old crayons going around for a decade or everything I remember is a lie. Also: “flesh crayon” sounds like a euphemism for something very rude. ETA: Third option: they weren’t Crayola but some off-brand still using a “flesh” designation after Crayola had switched That seems more likely. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996/24 "2022-09-23T15:06:11Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Here is a list. They have gone as far as possible to make sure they do not reference any ethnic name: They should properly be graded from Seal to Seal’s Teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996/25 "2022-09-23T15:58:50Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I’m sure I remember “flesh” crayons being around in the early 1970s, but perhaps this is a Mandela Effect thing. And yet I also remember at some point early on they became “peach”. So either there were a lot of old crayons going around for a decade or everything I remember is a lie. > > Also: “flesh crayon” sounds like a euphemism for something very rude. > > ETA: Third option: they weren’t Crayola but some off-brand still using a “flesh” designation after Crayola had switched That seems more likely. Yeah, I was thinking of posting the same thing after my beatdown. Another couple of options… 1. Crayola may have stopped labeling them “flesh” in 62, doesn’t mean the stockpile of old packages was sold immediately, and doesn’t mean schools / homes / etc. used them up immediately. I know we had a bin of crayons from lord knows how long ago that I used at home; I also remember my father having a big box in his closet that had a whole bunch of small-ish things they would use for gifts or extras on gifts - I could easily see a box of crayons sitting in the bottom of that box for years! 2. Communal memory still had the "peach’ as “flesh”, and in the lily white town I grew up in, it was just “known” that the flesh crayons were now peach and you called the peach “flesh”. Possibly the basis of the Mandela effect. I, personally, am going with your third option. You’re a kid - are you really aware that your crayons are Crayola brand vs. Crapola brand? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996/26 "2022-09-23T16:35:20Z")
Well, holy shit. TIL that “Indian red” refers to the country of India, not American Indians. To be honest, I haven’t thought about that color as an adult, and perhaps should not be surprised given color names like “Prussian blue,” but as a kid, I definitely thought it was a reference to Native American skin tone. I used Crayolas mostly in the 80s, well after the “flesh” color was retired. We always used peach, or sometimes apricot (if we lost our peach crayon), and sometimes even pink for Caucasian skin tones. I don’t ever remember a time when we were told to color Black skin tones with any of those – naturally, we would use some shade of brown or tan or burnt sienna or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996/27 "2022-09-23T16:44:28Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I was born in 1968 and I don’t remember ever seeing a “flesh”-colored crayon. I was also born in 1968 and I DO. In this case I’m pretty sure from my recollection that this was in the context of school-issued crayons and undoubtedly was due to a storage room full of an old scholastic purchase. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996/28 "2022-09-23T16:49:23Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Well, holy shit. TIL that “Indian red” refers to the country of India, not American Indians. To be honest, I haven’t thought about that color as an adult, and perhaps should not be surprised given color names like “Prussian blue,” but as a kid, I definitely thought it was a reference to Native American skin tone. I’m pretty sure I did too (or at least that it was somehow related to the American kind of Indians). Perhaps they should have called it “India red.” ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996/29 "2022-09-23T17:26:39Z")
This is the whole “series” of Bloom County strips. “Indian Red” mentioned in the third one. [![](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/lWBsIx_7DN0qdnt-bb78OGrIu-QhMCD8mZOqPnjyGFqraPkNvvEenrAzwOMiROpPe9bNDzAlIN5CAWweCf6I60tm7g-3RBNJklCx0Czjg-GvnpUjraw6zb51L6BlsQedKFknaH5OEA=s0) ](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/lWBsIx_7DN0qdnt-bb78OGrIu-QhMCD8mZOqPnjyGFqraPkNvvEenrAzwOMiROpPe9bNDzAlIN5CAWweCf6I60tm7g-3RBNJklCx0Czjg-GvnpUjraw6zb51L6BlsQedKFknaH5OEA=s0) [![](https://i.imgur.com/dzdSX0R.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/dzdSX0R.jpeg) > **[Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed for March 14, 1989 | GoComics.com](https://www.gocomics.com/bloomcounty/1989/03/14)** > > March 14, 1989 ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996/30 "2022-09-23T17:40:20Z")
Somebody [@mixdenny] posted above that Crayola has eliminated all ethnic names, including Indian Red and Prussian Blue, which is fine, as long as they are consistent about it, which it sounds like they are. However, are there still non-kid-safe names like “Cadmium Yellow” in the set, as the comic strip suggests? Prussian Blue seems to have turned into Midnight Blue, not Cyanide Blue. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996/31 "2022-09-23T17:58:00Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > However, are there still non-kid-safe names like “Cadmium Yellow” in the set, as the comic strip suggests? I’m wracking my memory trying to figure out what possibly offensive thing Cadmus did, but I’m missing it. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996/32 "2022-09-23T18:05:55Z")
“Chestnut” needed a disclaimer so kids wouldn’t eat it. You definitely would not want them sucking on cadmium. A lot of people use Arylide Yellow (aka “Hansa Yellow”). In fact, I hope they are all pretty non-toxic, but in that case why would cadmium yellow (or lead white, anything like that) be in there in the first place? ETA What I suspect is, the comic just made it up. There is no Cadmium Yellow listed on this page > **[List of Crayola crayon colors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Crayola_crayon_colors)** > > Since the introduction of Crayola drawing crayons by Binney & Smith in 1903, more than 200 distinctive colors have been produced in a wide variety of assortments. The table below represents all of the colors found in regular Crayola assortments from 1903 to the present.\[a\] Since the introduction of fluorescent crayons in the 1970s, the standard colors have been complemented by a number of specialty crayon assortments, represented in subsequent tables. > Along with the regular packs of crayons,... (However, there was apparently a Metallic Cadmium Red released in Canada!) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996/33 "2022-09-23T18:19:09Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > In fact, I hope they are all pretty non-toxic, but in that case why would cadmium yellow (or lead white, anything like that) be in there in the first place? It’s descriptive. Cadmium-based pigments were invented in the 1800s and were popular throughout the century for their strong, brilliant colors. Cadmium yellow replaced an ancient yellow pigment called “orpiment,” an arsenic sulfide compound, ironically as “less toxic.” So, the “cadmium yellow” Crayon would presumably be an analog to that specific color. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996/34 "2022-09-23T21:39:15Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > You’re a kid - are you really aware that your crayons are Crayola brand vs. Crapola brand? I only remember two crayon brands when I was a little kid in the late 50s/early60s: Crayola (in the yellow and green box) and Binney & Smith (in the black box with a big red dot). Crayola was always my preference. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996/35 "2022-09-23T21:44:08Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > In fact, I hope they are all pretty non-toxic, but in that case why would cadmium yellow (or lead white, anything like that) be in there in the first place? All Crayola products are non-toxic. [https://www.crayola.com/faq/safetymsds/are-crayola-and-silly-putty-products-nontoxic-even-if-ingested](https://www.crayola.com/faq/safetymsds/are-crayola-and-silly-putty-products-nontoxic-even-if-ingested) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996/36 "2022-09-23T22:03:08Z")
Challenged by that radical publication _The New Yorker_. [![](https://imgc.artprintimages.com/img/print/joe-these-people-say-they-want-flesh-colored-band-aids-new-yorker-cartoon_u-l-pgrfpl0.jpg?artPerspective=n) ](https://imgc.artprintimages.com/img/print/joe-these-people-say-they-want-flesh-colored-band-aids-new-yorker-cartoon_u-l-pgrfpl0.jpg?artPerspective=n) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996/37 "2022-09-23T22:13:25Z")
I definitely remember both peach and flesh when I was a kid in the early and mid-1970s. Crayola crayons were everywhere. Each household had at least one box, often more. And of course every classroom had piles of then. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996/38 "2022-09-23T22:16:47Z")
Binney & Smith is the company that makes Crayola. I don’t remember any other brands that were actually advertised but there were definitely other brands. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996/39 "2022-09-23T22:19:41Z")
Really? I’m only going by my memories of 60+ years ago! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996/40 "2022-09-23T22:24:39Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > . You’re a kid - are you really aware that your crayons are Crayola brand vs. Crapola brand? I was. I used both Crayola and crapola crayons as a kid, and the Crayola were much nicer. I had a strong preference for Crayola. Also, i had a box box of crayons in the early 60s that included “flesh tone”, which seemed a little odd to me, for reasons unrelated to race. But i think crayons can sit in a shelf for a few years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crayola-expands-the-skin-tones-to-32-colors/971996.md?page=3)