Okay, I did finally do some pink research, and here is what I found. Pink for girls and blue for boys began around the 1940s. So that means my grandmothers were probably often dressed in blue, and my grandfathers in pink when babies.
This is from the Ladies Home Journal:
“The generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. The reason is that pink being a more decided and stronger color is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.”
Other sources I read said that pink was viewed as a soft, pastel, "baby version" of red, which was a "boy color." And blue was associated with the Virgin Mary, and as such was appropriate for girls.
It made me wonder if that is why Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, and Wendy were all in shades of blue. Because back then that was the girl color. And Snow White's dress was half blue.
One of the articles also pointed out how purple was once the color of kings and then it was the color of NFL teams, and now it is becoming a girl color, too. I remember when we moved to Indiana, I was shocked to find out my high school's colors were purple and white. I thought, "do the boys really wear purple?" And they did. And they looked fantastic in it.
Anyway, so there it is. In the 1920s, pink was very much for boys and blue very much for girls. A few decades later, that all began to change. Some blamed it on the Nazis and their use of the color pink. But if that is the real reason, I don't really know.
And blue is my favorite color. But not because I'm trying to be a boy. :) I was once told that pink made the red splotches and zits on my face stand out and blue made my eyes stand out, and haha, I've preferred blue ever since. (Pink was definitely my color when I was little though!)
This is from the Ladies Home Journal:
“The generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. The reason is that pink being a more decided and stronger color is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.”
Other sources I read said that pink was viewed as a soft, pastel, "baby version" of red, which was a "boy color." And blue was associated with the Virgin Mary, and as such was appropriate for girls.
It made me wonder if that is why Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, and Wendy were all in shades of blue. Because back then that was the girl color. And Snow White's dress was half blue.
One of the articles also pointed out how purple was once the color of kings and then it was the color of NFL teams, and now it is becoming a girl color, too. I remember when we moved to Indiana, I was shocked to find out my high school's colors were purple and white. I thought, "do the boys really wear purple?" And they did. And they looked fantastic in it.
Anyway, so there it is. In the 1920s, pink was very much for boys and blue very much for girls. A few decades later, that all began to change. Some blamed it on the Nazis and their use of the color pink. But if that is the real reason, I don't really know.
And blue is my favorite color. But not because I'm trying to be a boy. :) I was once told that pink made the red splotches and zits on my face stand out and blue made my eyes stand out, and haha, I've preferred blue ever since. (Pink was definitely my color when I was little though!)
Thanks for doing that research Meems, it's fun to read what people thought about these colors back then. It makes you wonder what people will say about pink/blue when we are grandparents!!
ReplyDeleteLoved all your pink posts. Because of the academic world I had been immeresed in for several years right before A was born I was forming the belief that it was wrong to go all pink for a girl. That I was unconciously feeding my daughter societal norms & expectations. But then when A came, I loved pink on her and just adored pink & green nursery items. I then decided it was just as wrong to allow others dictate and choose for me what color A should or should not wear. So A wears quite a bit of pink but also quite a bit of blue and green my other favorite colors. I think it's a good mix.
ReplyDeleteOh, and who told you that you looked better in blue than in pink?
ReplyDeleteI know Jeff thinks you look pretty cute in orange...
thanks for the info :) how on earth did you find the time to do this??
ReplyDelete