Crayons, as a general type of wax-based coloring stick, grew out of earlier charcoal-and-oil sticks used in Europe, so there is no single precise “invention” date for the very first crayons. The modern paraffin wax crayon that most people mean today was developed in the late 1800s, and Crayola-brand crayons—often treated as the iconic version—were first made in 1902 and went on sale in 1903.

Quick Scoop

  • Early crayons evolved from European sticks made of charcoal and oil, later improved by using powdered pigments instead of charcoal.
  • The key shift to sturdier wax-based crayons came with the use of paraffin wax in the late 19th century in the United States.
  • Crayola crayons were created by cousins Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith at Binney & Smith in 1902 and first sold in 1903, quickly becoming the best-known school crayons.

In everyday use, when people ask “when were crayons invented,” they usually end up pointing to the early 1900s Crayola launch, even though wax coloring sticks in some form had existed for centuries before that.

TL;DR: Crayon‑like wax color sticks have roots going back many centuries, but the modern school crayon took shape in the late 1800s, and Crayola’s famous crayons debuted in 1903.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.