12/ A Crayon by Any Other Name

12/ A Crayon by Any Other Name. When is a Crayon? in the late 1800s and into the early 1900s when crayon companies were experimenting with chalk and wax there was some confusion as to what was a “crayon.” sometimes colored chalk, was called a crayon, and sometimes colored wax sticks were called crayons. The packaging on the boxes reflected the confusion, specifying either wax crayons or chalk crayons. In time, wax crayons were simply crayons and chalk crayons were simply chalk. Read about this and other stories in my book, Color Capital of the World: Growing Up with the a legacy of Color Crayons. Available from the University of Akron Press, independent book stores or the big book sellers.