Crayola began by making barns red and car tires black.
Cousins Edwin Binney and Harold Smith sold red oxide for barn paint and carbon black for tires. Their first crayon, a black marker for crates, was too toxic for children. Calling on schools with their dustless chalk, their salesmen found teachers short of safe colored crayons. In 1903 the company sold a box of eight for a nickel.
Crayola on Brandseum