Crayon

A crayon (or wax pastel) is a stick of colored wax, charcoal, chalk or other material used for writing or drawing. A crayon made of pigment with a dry binder is a pastel; when made of oiled chalk it is called an oil pastel. A grease pencil or china marker (UK chinagraph pencil) is made of colored hardened grease. There are also watercolor crayons, sometimes called water-soluble crayons.

Crayons, which are available at a range of price points, are easy to work with, often less messy than paints and markers, blunt (removing the risk of sharp points present when using a pencil or pen), typically non-toxic, and are available in a wide variety of colors. These characteristics make them particularly good instruments for teaching small children to draw in addition to being used widely by student and professional artists.

Composition

In the modern English-speaking world, the term crayon is commonly associated with the standard wax crayon, such as those widely available for use by children. Such crayons are usually approximately 3.5 inches (89 mm) in length and made mostly of petroleum (paraffin wax). Paraffin wax is heated and cooled to achieve the correct temperature in which a usable wax substance can be dyed and then manufactured for use around the world. Paraffin waxes are used for cosmetics, candles, for the preparation of printing ink, fruit preserving, in the pharmaceutical industry, for lubricating purposes, and crayons.

My Little Pony

My Little Pony is an entertainment franchise developed by Hasbro which is marketed primarily to girls. It started as a line of plastic pony toys developed by Bonnie Zacherle, Charles Muenchinger and Steve D'Aguanno which have been produced since 1983. The ponies feature colorful bodies, manes and a unique symbol on one or both sides of their flanks. These are referred to in the two most recent incarnations as "cutie marks." My Little Pony has been revamped at least four times with new and more modern looks to appeal to a new market.

Following the original My Pretty Pony toy, introduced in 1981, My Little Pony was launched in 1983 and the line became popular during the 1980s. The original toy line ran from 1983 to 1995 (1992 in the US), and inspired animated specials, an animated feature-length film, and four animated television series.

The brand's sales increased many times over with the introduction of the fourth incarnation of the franchise, which started with the success of the 2010 animated television series. The brand grossed one billion USD in retail sales in 2014 and 650 million USD in retail sales in 2013.

Studio C

Studio C is a sketch comedy television show produced in Utah by BYUtv. The show traces its roots to the BYU sketch comedy troupe Divine Comedy, of which all ten cast members are current or former members. The show aims to produce clean, family-oriented comedy for a national audience, shedding the BYU-oriented humor of Divine Comedy. The show was originally planned to be named Common Room until being changed to its current name, a reference to the studio in the BYU Broadcasting Building where the show is primarily filmed in front of a live audience. The sixth season premiered in September 2015. They have also created, "Leave No Fan Behind" and "Christmas Special Live Event", which are both live YouTube events. This lets fans watch the cast play games and act out skits, as well as ask questions on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, for them to answer during the events.

Studio C currently has a YouTube channel with over 500,000 subscribers. Their channel features many skits from the show, along with a few YouTube exclusives. Studio C's most popular video is "Top Soccer Shootout Ever With Scott Sterling", which currently has over 34.7 million views on YouTube. Studio C posts new videos on YouTube every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

BabyFirst

BabyFirst is a media company that produces and distributes content for babies through television, the internet and mobile apps. The content is intended to develop a baby's skills, such as color recognition, counting and vocabulary. There are about 90 BabyFirst TV shows and 41 apps for mobile devices. As of 2014, the network is distributed to 81 million homes, and is based in Los Angeles, California.

BabyFirst was founded in 2004 by Guy Oranim and Sharon Rechter. Its first broadcast was through DirectTV in 2006. It was funded by Regency Enterprises, Kardan, and Bellco Capital. Distribution expanded through agreements with the Echostar Dish Network, Comcast, AT&T U-verse and others. It also developed a premium BabyFirst YouTube channel, and mobile apps. One app developed with AT&T U-verse allows babies to interact with the television programming by drawing on a mobile device.

History

Origins

BabyFirst was founded in 2004 by Guy Oranim and Sharon Rechter. The network was launched on May 11, 2006 on DirecTV and was later made available through EchoStar's Dish Network that June. It was made available through EchoStar's Dish Network that June. The BabyFirst network is based in Los Angeles and was initially funded by Regency Enterprises (a Hollywood movie studio), Kardan (a holding company) & Bellco Capital (a private fund). BabyFirst was controversial when it was introduced, because it was the first 24-hour channel for children six months to three years in age. However, the channel was popular among parents and grew quickly.

Play-Doh

Play-Doh is a modeling compound used by young children for art and craft projects at home and in school. Composed of flour, water, salt, boric acid, and mineral oil, the product was first manufactured in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S., as a wallpaper cleaner in the 1930s. When a classroom of children began using the wallpaper cleaner as a modeling compound, the product was reworked and marketed to Cincinnati schools in the mid-1950s. Play-Doh was demonstrated at an educational convention in 1956 and prominent department stores opened retail accounts. Advertisements promoting Play-Doh on influential children's television shows in 1957 furthered the product's sales. Since its launch on the toy market in the mid-1950s, Play-Doh has generated a considerable amount of ancillary merchandise such as The Fun Factory. In 2003, the Toy Industry Association named Play-Doh in its "Century of Toys List".

History

Origin

The non-toxic, non-staining, reusable modeling compound that came to be known as "Play-Doh" was originally named Rainbow Modeling Compound. It was a pliable, putty-like substance concocted by Noah McVicker of Cincinnati-based soap manufacturer Kutol Products; it was devised at the request of Kroger Grocery, which wanted a product that could clean coal residue from wallpaper. Following World War II, with the transition from coal-based home heating to natural gas and the resulting decrease in internal soot, and the introduction of washable vinyl-based wallpaper, the market for wallpaper cleaning putty decreased substantially. McVicker's nephew, Joe McVicker, joined Kutol with the remit to save the company from bankruptcy; he subsequently discovered that the wallpaper cleaner was being used by nursery school children to make Christmas ornaments.