A Tale of Two Boxes of Crayons

No need to look at the calendar, simply walk into any grocery or drug store and it is clear that back-to-school time is upon us. As the kids head back to the classroom, we'll stock up on brand new folders, notebooks, pencils, pens and of course, crayons. In my day, a new box of Crayola brand 64 crayons with a sharpener built into the back of the box was like hitting the jackpot. I loved to draw and color, so getting to start with a fresh set of crayons was definitely an exciting moment. Back then, I don't even remember seeing other brands on store shelves since my childhood pre-dates the influx of "house" or "store" branded products that are common place in today's chain stores. This morning, however, as I passed through the school supplies aisle of my local supermarket, I noticed another brand stocked beside the trusty Crayolas from a company called Rose Art. I stopped and took a few photos, and as you can see, Crayola crayons are manufactured here in the United States, while the Rose Art crayons come from China. Crayola, which is now owned by Hallmark (the greeting card folks) has called Easton, Pennsylvania its home for nearly 100 years. The company's world headquarters and major manufacturing facility are located in Easton, as is "The Crayola Factory", an attraction for kids and parents alike to enjoy. Rose Art crayons are distributed by a company called "Mega Brands", based in Montreal, Quebec Canada. As for what company actually manufactures their crayons in China, who knows, which raises a host of other quetsions about quality control, product safety and the like. The Crayola crayons cost fifty cents more than the Rose Art crayons but if you stop and think about it, there is a much greater price for all of us if we stop buying Crayola crayons made in Easton, Pennsylvania for our children.