Scrap Basket

I’ve ranted before about the whole pink-for-girls and drab-for-boys thing. Just try to buy a toy or an article of clothing for anyone under the age of 15, and you’ll see what I mean. I suspect today’s approach to gender-specific colors would confuse our grandparents. White was the preferred color for babies and children of any sex until they were at least old enough to go to school; primarily because white clothes and diapers could be bleached. Older children were dressed in paler shades of the colors adults wore. Red was considered a strong, virile, masculine color, while blue was thought of as dainty, delicate, and feminine. That means boys were more likely to be dressed in pink, while girls more often wore pale blue. It wasn’t until the early 20th century – and quite possibly as late as the 1940s – that we began to think of blue as being for boys and pink for girls.