One of the things I remember from childhood is when my mother let me get a box of 64 crayons as part of my school supplies. I never knew there could be so many colors! And, the box even had a sharpener in the back. Would wonders never cease? I’m not sure exactly what year it was but according to Crayola, they first produced this magical set of crayons in 1958. So, I must have been at least 10 years old.
Some colors have been retired (as have I) and some of the names have been changed; Flesh is now Peach and Indian Red is now Chestnut. Crayola has 133 standard colors today — more if you count their specialty colors. In comparison, since most computers can handle 256 shades each of red, blue, and green, they can display 256 x 256 x 256 or 16,777,216 colors. I’d hate to be the guy who has to come up with names for nearly 17 million colors. If you’re curious, however, you can find the names and RGB hex codes for Crayola’s 133 colors on Wikipedia.
Although I have no proof, I suspect that Mother Nature has come up with more than 17 million colors. You don’t have to be a photographer to be amazed at how many shades of blue you can see in the sky or in a lake. The riot of reds, oranges, yellows, and browns that are born every autumn from the green leaves of summer are surely beyond counting. What about wild flowers? And don’t even get me started on sunrises and sunsets!
I must admit that I still miss Kodachrome. Paul Simon knew what he was singing about.
(Click on any photo to enlarge, then use arrows to scroll through the images.)