Our History
The earliest roots of Crayola Canada’s Canadian operations can be traced back to 1926 when James W. Gravestock of Toronto, Ontario founded the Canada Crayon Company.
From his basement, Mr.Gravestock and his family moulded and hand wrapped the “Peacock” brand of crayons for the Canadian market. By 1927, the Canada Crayon Company had outgrown its humble headquarters. Mr. Gravestock needed to expand his operations and increase his output, so he joined forces with the Binney & Smith Company of New York. In October of that year, the partnership rented a three-story factory in Peterborough, Ontario and transferred the manufacture of crayons from the Toronto facility.
The Canada Crayon Company, while still in its youth, enjoyed tremendous success and by 1933, it was again forced to search for roomier facilities to meet the ever-increasing demand for its products. The search ended in Lindsay, Ontario and on September 3, 1933, production commenced at the new Lindsay plant. With the addition of the world-renowned Crayola brand to its line, the Canada Crayon Company continued to prosper through the ensuing years.
In October 1958, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Binney & Smith Inc. and in the Fall of 1979, the company began operating under the banner of Binney & Smith Canada.
Hallmark Cards Inc., the world’s largest maker of greeting cards, acquired Binney & Smith in 1984.
Effective April 24, 2007, the company began operating under the new banner of Crayola Canada.
Lindsay has been, and continues to be, the home of Crayola in Canada.
Our Story
Crayola has inspired creativity since the first box of Crayola crayons rolled off the assembly line in 1903. The Crayola brand has grown into a portfolio of innovative art tools, crafting activities, and creative toys that inspire kids to explore, discover, play, pretend, and dream.
Whether it's providing tools to create everything imaginable or enabling teachers to bring arts-infused learning into the classroom, Crayola is passionate about helping parents and educators raise creatively alive children. Crayola sees a world where the inherent creativity of children is fully nurtured into adulthood, filling the world with more curiosity, imagination, joy, and connections.
The company began when cousins Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith took over Edwin's father's pigment business in 1885. Early products included red oxide pigment used as barn paint and carbon black used in car tires. After noticing a need for safe, high quality, affordable wax crayons, in 1903, Crayola produced the first box of eight crayons and sold them for 5 cents.