Hooker's Green

Hooker aged ??

Yesterday’s Blog about colours really got me hooked on this theme. I am fascinated as to how some of the name’s came about but let me at least put your mind at rest about the appropriateness of having a Hooker’s Green in children’s wax crayons.

Hooker aged 79

This is not a reference to the well-established profession of that name but (I assume) to Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911) who was arguably the most important British botanist of the nineteenth century. A traveller and plant-collector, he was one of Charles Darwin’s closest friends and eventually became director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.

Crayola crayons came into being in 1903 and a brief history of the firm and its colours can be found at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crayola
Another site with a history of the Crayola colours is
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0872797.html

There are 120 basic Crayola colours but the total number of names is greater than that as there have been various retirements and replacements over the years. Crayola marked their 100th birthday by having consumers name new colours and voted four out: Blizzard Blue, Magic Mint, Mulberry, and Teal Blue to make way for Inch Worm, Jazzberry Jam, Mango Tango, and Wild Blue Yonder. An illustrated list of their colours can be found at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Crayola_crayon_colors
(Note:- if you scroll down that page there is a list in alphabetical order so you can actually see what Fuzzy wuzzy brown looks like!)

Crayola is based in Arundel, Maryland and this is the superb entrance to their shop. It was designed by RipBang Designs of California.