The Classic History of custom Paint by Numbers

The history of paint by numbers is the story of a simple, generous idea that turned a whole nation into painters — and then, decades later, quietly reinvented itself as the custom-from-photo kit you can order today. It began in a workshop in 1949 with a man who believed the pleasure of painting should belong to everyone. Here is how a modest numbered canvas became a cultural phenomenon, and how it grew into what we make now.

The origin: 1949

Paint by numbers was introduced by Dan Robbins in 1949. A commercial artist by trade, Robbins had been turning over an idea he traced back to the Renaissance — that a master could hand a numbered plan to a less experienced hand and let them fill in a finished composition. He reasoned that the same principle could give the joy of painting to absolutely anyone, trained or not. The hard decisions of art — composition, colour, proportion — would already be solved. What remained was the calm, absorbing pleasure of filling in the shapes.

The concept was sound, but a product needs a market. The real push to put these kits into homes across the country began in 1950, and once it started, it moved fast.

Craft Master and the $2.50 kit

The kits reached the public under a name that became famous in its own right: the “Craft Master” Paint by Numbers kit, priced at an accessible $2.50. That price mattered. For the cost of a couple of cinema tickets, an ordinary family could bring home a boxed canvas, a set of numbered paints, and the chance to make something for the wall. It was affordable enough to be an impulse, and satisfying enough to become a habit.

The public response was extraordinary. By 1954, the company behind Craft Master was earning roughly $20 million a year — a staggering figure for a boxed hobby, and proof that Robbins had read the public mood exactly right. People did not just want to own art. They wanted to make it themselves.

Clever marketing that built a craze

A good product opened the door, but shrewd marketing turned paint by numbers into a genuine craze. The company reached buyers in ways that feel remarkably modern:

• Retailer buyback guarantees. Shops could stock the kits with little risk, because unsold stock could be returned — so retailers said yes, and the kits landed on shelves everywhere.
• Employee awards of around $250. Internal prizes kept the sales team motivated and the momentum building behind the product.
• Billboard demonstrations. Live, in-public painting demonstrations showed sceptical passers-by that yes, an ordinary person really could produce a handsome finished canvas.
• Holiday-season promotions. The kits were positioned as the perfect gift, riding the biggest shopping weeks of the year straight into the family living room.

Taken together, these tactics did more than sell boxes. They planted an idea in the public imagination — that painting was not a closed club, but something waiting for you on a shop shelf.

The mission: make everyone an artist

Underneath the sales figures sat a sincerely democratic mission: to make everyone an artist. That phrase was not just a slogan; it was the whole point. And the proof of its reach is in who picked up a brush. Among the many enthusiasts of the era was President Dwight Eisenhower, who painted by numbers himself — a small detail that captures how far the craze travelled, from ordinary kitchen tables all the way to the White House.

A short timeline

From landscapes to your own photos

For decades, the pictures inside the box were chosen for you — cottages, mountain streams, still lifes and horses. They were lovely, and millions of people painted them happily. But the deepest wish behind the craft was always personal: people did not just want a picture on the wall, they wanted their picture.

That is the chapter of the story we get to write now. With today’s tools, the numbered canvas has grown into the custom paint by numbers kit — made not from a stock scene, but from a photograph you love. Your dog. Your grandmother. The view from a trip you never want to forget. A face asks for more care than a landscape, so a portrait usually needs around 36 to 48 colours to render skin and expression honestly, and we show you a proof to approve — with free revisions — before anything is printed.

Everything else stays true to Robbins’s original promise. Each kit arrives ready to paint: a numbered linen canvas, pre-mixed acrylic paints, three brushes, and a printed reference sheet, plus free paint for life if a pot ever runs low. Shipping is tracked worldwide, with the cost shown clearly at checkout. Seventy years on, the idea is unchanged and the invitation is the same — follow the numbers, take your time, and make something for your wall.

To meet the man who started it all, read our tribute, in memory of Dan Robbins. And if you are curious why so many people find custom kits worth the wait, see the benefits of custom paint by numbers.