A box of crayons. A page full of outlines. Hours gone before you even notice.
It sounds like a simple formula, but the coloring book has one of the most interesting origin stories in publishing. What started as a formal educational tool for children in the 1880s has quietly transformed into a global wellness phenomenon embraced by millions of adults. The journey from then to now covers wars, economic shifts, pop culture explosions, and at least one unexpected celebrity cameo from Mark Twain.
Here’s the full timeline of how the humble coloring book became what it is today.
Before the Coloring Book Had a Name (1600s to 1870s)
The concept of “lines on paper waiting to be filled with color” didn’t begin with a publisher’s big idea. It began with education.
As far back as the 17th and 18th centuries, European art instructors used outline engravings to teach drawing and painting to wealthy students. These printed sheets were essentially templates. Students would trace over them, study the proportions, and practice filling them in with watercolors. There was nothing playful about it. This was serious academic work, closer to a geometry exercise than a hobby.
By the mid-1800s, as printing technology improved and paper became more affordable, publishers began packaging these illustrated outline pages into booklets. They were still positioned as educational materials, not entertainment. But the seed of an idea had been planted.
1879 to 1900: The First Real Coloring Books Arrive
The history of coloring books as we know them begins in earnest with McLoughlin Brothers, a New York-based children’s publisher that was doing some of the most innovative work in illustrated books during the late 19th century.
Around 1879, McLoughlin Brothers released what many historians consider the first true mass-produced coloring book aimed at children: “The Little Folks’ Painting Book.” It contained simple outline illustrations and was designed for kids to color in at home with watercolors.
This was a genuine shift. For the first time, the activity was being sold as something fun, not just instructional. Children didn’t need drawing talent to participate. They just needed a brush and some paint. The barrier to entry was almost zero.
Other publishers noticed immediately, and the format began to spread. By the end of the 1880s, painting books and outline illustration books for children were appearing regularly across the United States and in parts of Europe.
The 1880s coloring book market was still modest by today’s standards. Still, its core identity was already taking shape: accessible, affordable, and designed for anyone.
1903: Crayola Changes the Game
No single development did more for the coloring book than the invention of the affordable wax crayon.
In 1903, Binney and Smith introduced Crayola crayons to the American market at five cents per box. They were non-toxic, clean, easy to grip, and available in eight colors. Unlike watercolors, they required no brushes, no water, and no setup. A child could pick one up and start coloring in seconds.
The partnership between the crayon and the coloring book was almost instant. Publishers began designing books specifically for crayon use, with thicker lines and sturdier paper. Sales climbed. The format stopped being a niche product for well-off families and became something ordinary households across America could participate in.
By the 1910s and 1920s, coloring books were a standard part of childhood. Schools used them. Parents gave them as gifts. They showed up in toy catalogs alongside dolls and wooden trains.
The 1930s and 1940s: Pop Culture Takes Over
The next major leap in the evolution of coloring books came from an unlikely source: Hollywood.
As American entertainment culture exploded in the 1930s, publishers were quick to license popular characters for coloring books. Mickey Mouse, Betty Boop, Popeye, Snow White, and dozens of other beloved figures started appearing on coloring book covers. Children who had just seen a character at the cinema could take them home and bring them to life with their own colors.
This was a revolutionary idea in product marketing, even if nobody called it that at the time. The coloring book had become a piece of merchandise, a way for children to extend their relationship with stories and characters they already loved.
During World War II, paper rationing significantly affected the publishing industry, but coloring books remained in production because they were considered beneficial for children’s development. The activity was seen as calming, educational, and a healthy way to keep kids occupied during an anxious period in history. That perception of coloring as something therapeutic would resurface much later in a very different context.
The 1950s and 1960s: A Mainstream Staple (With a Satirical Twist)
By the 1950s, the coloring book had settled comfortably into its identity as a children’s toy. Every major publishing house had a coloring book division. Themes ranged from farm animals and fairy tales to space exploration and cowboys, reflecting the decade’s cultural preoccupations.
Then, in 1961, something unexpected happened.
A small publishing house released “The Executive Coloring Book,” a satirical adult coloring book that mocked corporate life and office culture. Pages featured suited businessmen with captions like “This is my suit. Color it gray.” It was absurdist, dry, and genuinely funny. It sold well and became a popular novelty gift.
This was the first real crack in the assumption that coloring books were only for children. But it was treated as a joke product, not a serious category. The idea of adults coloring for relaxation or creativity wouldn’t be taken seriously for another 50 years.
The 1970s to 1990s: Color by Number and the Quiet Years
The color-by-number format, which had appeared in kit form as early as the 1950s, became increasingly popular through the 1970s and 1980s. These books assigned specific colors to numbered sections within an illustration, producing a recognizable image when completed. They were satisfying in a different way from open-ended coloring. There was a clear goal, a correct outcome, and a reveal at the end.
This era also saw the rise of activity books combining coloring with puzzles, dot-to-dots, mazes, and sticker sheets. Publishers were responding to competition from television and early video games by making coloring books more interactive and varied.
The category remained healthy but largely static through the 1990s. Coloring was still considered a children’s pastime. That was simply the accepted truth. Nobody was seriously challenging it.
2013: The Year Everything Changed
If you had to pick a single moment when the coloring book fundamentally reinvented itself, it would be 2013.
That year, Scottish illustrator Johanna Basford published “Secret Garden,” a coloring book filled with elaborate botanical illustrations, hidden details, and intricate linework. It was not designed for children. It was designed for adults who wanted something beautiful, complex, and absorbing to work on.
The response was staggering.
“Secret Garden” sold over 1.4 million copies in its first year. Publishers who had never considered adult coloring books as a serious category suddenly scrambled to commission their own. Within two years, adult coloring books were among the bestselling titles on Amazon, appearing on bestseller lists alongside major novels and self-help books.
The timing was not a coincidence. By 2013, the cultural conversation around stress, screen fatigue, and mindfulness was already well underway. People were looking for ways to slow down and do something with their hands that didn’t involve a screen. Coloring offered exactly that: a focused, gentle, low-stakes creative activity that produced something tangible.
Therapists and wellness writers began describing the benefits of adult coloring in terms very similar to mindfulness meditation. The act of staying within lines (or deliberately breaking them) required just enough attention to quiet anxious thoughts without demanding the kind of concentrated mental effort that work and digital life already consumed so much of.
2015 to 2020: A Global Phenomenon
The adult coloring trend that “Secret Garden” ignited didn’t burn out quickly. It spread globally.
By 2015 and 2016, adult coloring books were bestsellers across the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, and dozens of other markets. Publishers released titles in every conceivable theme: mandalas, architecture, animals, mythology, horror, fantasy, botanicals, grayscale portraiture, and abstract geometric patterns.
The market also began to specialize. Where early adult coloring books leaned toward pretty, decorative themes, publishers discovered strong demand for darker aesthetics. Horror coloring books, gothic fantasy titles, and creepy illustration books found dedicated audiences who wanted something with an edge. The idea that coloring had to be gentle and soft was quietly dropped.
Supplies followed. Manufacturers began producing colored pencils, alcohol markers, watercolor pencils, and gel pens specifically optimized for adult coloring book paper. What had once required a five-cent box of crayons now had an entire ecosystem of premium tools built around it.
The History of Coloring Books Meets the Present Day
The coloring book today is almost unrecognizable compared to McLoughlin Brothers’ simple painting book from 1879. Yet, it runs on exactly the same principle. Outlines on a page, waiting for someone to bring them to life.
What has changed is the audience, the complexity, and the cultural meaning attached to the activity. Coloring is no longer a skill-building exercise for children or a nostalgic novelty for adults. It is a legitimate creative hobby with a global community, a dedicated publishing industry, specialized supplies, and a well-documented connection to mental wellness.
The evolution of coloring books is really the story of a format that kept finding new reasons to exist. It survived the rise of radio, television, video games, the internet, and social media. Each time a new form of entertainment threatened to make it obsolete, it adapted and found a new audience.
That’s not luck. That’s a genuinely good idea.
A Quick Timeline Recap
1600s to 1870s: Outline illustration sheets used for formal art education in Europe.
1879: McLoughlin Brothers publish one of the first mass-produced children’s painting books in the United States.
1903: Crayola crayons launch, making home coloring accessible and affordable for most families.
1930s: Licensed character coloring books (Mickey Mouse, Betty Boop) turn the format into a pop culture product.
1940s: Coloring books remain in production during World War II as a calming activity for children.
1961: “The Executive Coloring Book” introduces the first adult-oriented coloring book as satire.
1970s to 1990s: Color-by-number and activity book formats expand the category.
2013: Johanna Basford’s “Secret Garden” launches the global adult coloring book movement.
2015 to 2016: Adult coloring books become international bestsellers across dozens of markets.
Present day: The category spans every theme and aesthetic, from soft botanicals to dark horror, with a dedicated global audience of adult colorists.
What Comes Next?
The coloring book has reinvented itself multiple times over 140 years. There is no strong reason to think it has stopped evolving.
Digital coloring apps have gained popularity, offering the sensory experience of coloring on a screen without the need for physical supplies. But the physical book has proven remarkably resilient. There is something about holding a real page, choosing a real pencil, and making a real mark that apps struggle to replicate.