American Notes Classics

Since violet blue was retired 14 months ago, 300 crayon aficionados a month have been complaining to Crayola maker Binney & Smith. The Easton, Pa., company took eight traditional colored crayons off the market and replaced them with such New Age hues as cerulean, dandelion and vivid tangerine. But protests from groups such as RUMPS (the Raw Umber and Maize Preservation Society) have swayed the crayon giant. One million boxes of the Crayola Eight came back on the market last week.

"Kids just love the eight new colors, but Moms like the old eight we replaced," explained Richard Gurin, the company's president. "We decided, at least for now, they are both right." Declared Robert Pagani, president of CRAYON (the Committee to Reestablish All Your Old Norms): "This is a great moral victory." And you thought the fall of the Berlin Wall was a milestone in history.