Paint-by-numbers inventor dies at 93

BBC ^ | 5 april 2019 | BBC

[csvset]

Dan Robbins, the artist behind the paint-by-numbers craze that swept America, has died in Sylvania, Ohio, at the age of 93, his son told the AP news agency.

He was working at a paint products firm in the 1940s when he invented the kits.

By the 1950s millions were being sold across the US every year.

His inspiration for the idea came from Leonardo da Vinci, who used a similar method when teaching his apprentices how to paint.

Mr Robbins first joined Palmer Paint, a company selling children's paint sets, after serving in World War Two.

Dan Robbins with a paint-by-numbers self-portrait

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I just read it...great summary of the old kits. Thanks for the link. That was so cool that the author received early sample of the newly coated fabrics that made the Echo satellite. I still remember my Dad pointing it out to me when I was little.

[wetgundog]

Crude Explosives Manufacturer was my second childhood activity. At the time, I could buy large quantities of Potassium Nitrate at the local pharmacy while still in elementary school and mix it with sugar. Jetex fuse was used as the igniter. The most dangerous weapon is the human mind.

[Charles Martel]

Thanks for posting that link - now I know where to get a Franklin Mint Star Trek 50th Anniversary 3D chess set! ;-)

[Charles Martel]

I received a chemistry set for my 8th birthday. By age 9 I’d stumbled onto a crude gunpowder-like mixture. Ah, sweet memories.

Yes, the smell of scorched eyebrow hair is a tenacious memory. :-)

[SamAdams76]

I think that is what is so missing in our society, there is so little craft-work or hobbies anymore to give simple happiness.

Very true. As a boy, I would build models, work on my stamp collection, listen to police scanners or tackle thousand plus piece jigsaw puzzles with my sister. As a young adult, I got into electronics and short wave radio. I would spend countless hours dx'ing with my Grundig and picking up stations from around the world.

All of that has been mostly lost in the computer age.

[Huskrrrr]

There is one I’m familiar with called Paint Photo Art.

[ops33]

My mother bought one for us when we were kids. She thought it would be fun to launch a balloon 12’ in diameter. Problem was, no way to fill it with helium so it would go up. We used a bicycle pump and pumped all day only to discover compressed air doesn’t rise. Still, kept us out of trouble for a couple of hours. BTW, in reference to your tag line, my father was a career Army officer and in the late 50’s - early 60’s we were stationed at Poitiers, France.

[Jolla]

After my brother got a do-it-yourself AM transistor radio kit I wanted to build a mercury spaceship, dad said slow down.

[freedomlover]

“At the time, I could buy large quantities of Potassium Nitrate at the local pharmacy while still in elementary school.”

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So could I. Even then I realized that that could be really dangerous if the OTHER kids found that out.
LOL