more about coloring books and crayons

we learned a bit about the history of bubbles after playing with them on the first whimsical wednesday which prompts me to post a brief history of crayons and coloring books.  information was found at wikipedia.com, buzzle.com and ezinearticles.com.

coloring books as we know them today were originally intended for use with paint.  the first company to produce the books was the mcloughlin brothers company, in the 1880s, which later became a part of the milton bradley toy company.  taking the concept further, the creator of buster brown, richard f. outcault, produced a coloring book titled, buster's paint book, in 1907.  this book had the distinction of using coloring books as an advertising vehicle.  soon other such coloring books circulated to advertise many products.  there are coloring books for adults as well as for children.

the first crayons were made in europe, a mixture of charcoal and oil.  the most recognized crayon is the crayola crayon, produced by the binney-smith company, which produced paint.  the process used wax instead of oil and was mixed with pigments to make different colors.  the crayons had the added advantage of being nontoxic.  the first box of crayons was made in 1903 and contained eight colors:  red, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown and black.  today the binney-smith company produces 120 colors as well as a wide variety of other art materials.  

a friend recycles used crayons by peeling off the wrappers, breaking them into small pieces and placing them into a throwaway, aluminum cake or pie pan lined with foil (sprayed with vegetable oil spray).  the pan is placed over a pot of  hot water on the stove.  the heat and steam melts the crayons into a jumble of colors.  (this process would most likely work in the microwave as well, using a non-metal container). after the crayons are completely melted the pan is moved to a hot pad to cool.  after partially cooled the "cake" of crayons is cut into pieces of any shape and size.  these are really neat to color with.  and they look great.

i'm forever blowing bubbles.....

since blowing bubbles on whimsical wednesday, i have been thinking about bubbles and the origins of bubble blowing.  an internet search led me to two interesting sites, www.bubbles.org and www.bubbleblowers.com.

it seems that bubble blowing may have been done by children as long as ago as ancient times.  during the 18th and 19th centuries, mothers gave their children leftover washing soap for bubble blowing.  bubble blowers were formed from anything that was available such as rope, string, wire.  it was during the 20th century that bubbles began to be sold by street vendors.  in the 1940s, the chemtoy company, which made various cleaning supplies, was the first company to systematically bottle bubble solution.  later this company was purchased by tootsietoy company and bubbles were on their way.  bubbles (solution and blowers) are now sold by several companies worldwide and it is claimed that bubbles are the best selling toy in the world! 

curious, i read the label on the bottle of bubbles (miracle bubbles by the imperial company) i played with on whimsical wednesday for a list of ingredients and none were listed. the ingredients for bubbles is either universal or some huge secret!  however, it took no effort to find recipes for homemade bubbles.    
         
here's a recipe i found on grandparents.com:


1/4 cup liquid dish washing detergent (regular dawn or joy works best)
1/2 cup water (tap water is fine as long as it isn't hard with iron and other minerals)
1 tablespoon glycerine or clear corn syrup


here's a recipe developed by professor bubbles, worldwide bubble entertainer, and published on his website bubbles.org.  he writes that he uses this super bubble recipe during his performances:

2 parts regular dawn or joy dish washing liquid
4 parts distilled water
1 part clear karo corn syrup

in addition to bubble solution, homemade wands can be made with just about anything that can be shaped into a circle or already is circular such as a straw or funnel.

if you are so inclined, mix a batch of bubble solution and craft a wand.  then post the results of your personally made bubble fun.