Crayons & Economics

Remember elementary school and the requisite list of supplies at the start of each school year? Scissors, glue, pencils, crayons, etc. Being somewhat of a nerd, I relished the start of the new year; how exciting to move up a grade and see what challenges a new classroom would bring. What I didn’t appreciate is my box of crayons. My household microeconomics dictated I receive the minimum requirement: the 8 basic colors. According to the Crayola website, these were the first introductions in 1903!.

Nevertheless, new, sharp, untouched crayons were exciting. Even MORE exciting than 8 was 64. Yes, other students were lucky enough to get the box of 64 with a fancy crayon-sharpener in the back. Even though my creative side couldn’t justify it, I was jealous and mesmerized for there was one color that seemed mysterious—Burnt Sienna. What is Burnt Sienna anyway? Is it orange? brown? red? Just this week I Googled the hue to learn more about it. Wikipedia had an entry: It’s an “iron oxide pigment: a warm mid brown color. Chemically, burnt sienna is formed by burning raw sienna.” Again, Crayola’s website indicates this color has been an option since around 1949.


Back to economics….Jason and I decided to do our part to help the global economy. From a Bloomington store, we bought our first brand-new couch, chair, and ottoman manufactured in China with Italian leather. When I first saw the couch, the color reminded me of the mysterious, Burnt Sienna. After investigating the color, I can’t decide if my monitor needs a color adjustment or if I need to buy a box of 64 crayons to do my own color match. Most of my friends know I’m not the kind of girl that fusses over hues, so I’m sure this is a decision that I won’t worry about.


(stock photo of couch--this is not our house)