Tuesday 29 December 2015

colour me purple

The latest instalment in Atlas Obscura’s rogue No One’s Watching Week—that winterval wherein the editors can publish their oddest discoveries with confidence that few will see—features the history of the adult colouring book and its sustained popularity in the early 1960s. Much like today’s passing fad, their attraction was short-lived (through with brief revivals when reintroduced, assured that enough time had passed), but their subversive subtext, I think, is far more edgier and original that forgotten nostalgia can conjure up—even if they were a gimmick to boost crayon sales. Check out the article in its entirety for links to more complete panels.