Coloring Books, a History
The first coloring books were painting books for children. The first popular coloring book in history was the Little Folks Painting Book. It was a publisher called the McLoughlin Brothers who popularized coloring books among children. The nineteenth century opened up printing and changed the approach to education. All this influenced the rise of the coloring book as an affordable educational tool for children.
A book called Antique Automobiles (1970) was the first adult coloring book.
Coloring Books in the Twenty-first Century
Come 2015 and Johanna Basford revolutionized the coloring book industry, selling 21 million copies of her coloring books (Worlds of Wonder and Enchanted Forest among others)! Watch her talk about her inky evangelism and going analog.
A blogger called Jenny Fenlason even started a coloring book club!