I am sure a lot of you grew up with these but I am sure there are a few who didn’t. Paint by number (PBN) was a way for everyone to express them selves using paint. You would purchase a themed paint kit that would come with an image that was segmented by numbers and you would match the color with the number and paint accordingly. Depending on your skill level you could purchase simple to difficult PBN’s. These were first produced in the 1950’s by Max S. Klein, an engineer and owner of the Palmer Paint Company of Detroit, Michigan and Dan Robbins, a commercial artist. In 1951 Palmer created the Craft Master brand and sold over 12 million kits to eager artists everywhere. There were a few other companies that produced PBN’s such as Paint Your Own, Craftint, Hasbro & Tole Craft to mention a few.
PBN’s were made with a variety of themes to include movies, rock groups and popular tv shows like the ones below:
Beatles PBN. Each kit had one of the members of the group!
Star Trek! One of these sold on Ebay for $1800!
Here is a cool clip on PBN’s
Click Images to Enlarge
Melody and I collect PBN and look at it as a form of folk art. I know some people might think they are primitive in appearance but that is exactly what draws me to them. I really think some of the images that have been produced are really nice. Ever since I purchased my first one I had the idea to take a small wall and cover the whole thing. I decided to fill up one of the walls in our bathroom. I really like it but maybe I am crazy??
Entrance to our bathroom
They go all the way to the ceiling
This one is called “Pinky”
This one is known as “Boy in blue”
I love the colors of this PBN geisha.
Hepcats Haven 
No you are not crazy! Or maybe you are & I am too but I love these! I’ve got a gorgeous one I had in the shop for some time & have brought it back home for a while. It’s a beautiful pastel swan scene with a beautiful frame. You should check out my online album to see it. I’ve heard that there are definately collectors of them. I had many and adored doing them when I was a kid. It took a long time to do them & I think that’s why mom got them for me ;- ) Another great job Hepcat!
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Thanks! Also, thanks for being so vocal on the site. I have a ton of people looking at it but only a handful even say what they think or feel about what they see.
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Please Shane – don’t encourage me! (Haha!). I’ve given this link to a lot of people (mostly in my age group that I know would enjoy it + some of the ladies at Folsom, but you know, some people from a certain generation :- ) (but unlike myself) feel shy about speaking up and joining in. To some folks it’s like walking into a room full of strangers & thinking you might say the wrong thing & embarrass yourself. At least this is what some folks have told me (not in regards to this site but in general on the social networking online). Myself, well, what can I say? Just put a gag on me! :- ) But I think when people keep watching & get more comfortable they will speak up. DO NOT think people are not enjoying and appreciating your site cause I know different!
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