Hi full_o_questions,
"The Historic Boys' Clothing Website at http://histclo.hispeed.com has
made an exhaustive study of this.
And still not found an answer.
But, researchers Dennis and Chris Weidner did find these fascinating notes.
* At one point pink was considered more of a boy's color, as a
watered-down red, (a fierce color) and blue was more for girls. In
1918 the Ladies Home Journal informed mothers, "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 pertier for the
girl."
* Louisa May Alcott might be the source of our current color
tradition. "Little Women" was published in 1869. One passage in the
book describes Meg presenting her newborn twins, a boy and a girl. Meg
says: "I put a blue ribbon on the boy and a pink on the girl, French
fashion, so you can always tell them apart."
The reference suggests the pink-blue convention wasn't widespread in
America at the time. There isn't evidence this was a French custom,
but it might have originated in Europe.
This novel was extremely widely read, so after 1869 many American
families would have been exposed to the idea of a pink-blue gender
convention.
* Another possible influence is the sailor suit that was traditionally
popular for boys. Boys emulated uniformed men in many of their
clothing styles, so blue uniforms could have been an influence in that
way."
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/columnists/jeff_elder/7315197.htm
Gender and Color
http://histclo.hispeed.com/gender/color.html
Gender and Color: Pink
http://histclo.hispeed.com/gender/col/col-pink.html
The "Old Wives Tales" website explains that the color blue was chosen
to protect a male child from the "evil eye"! ...
"Pink For Girls. Blue For Boys"
by Old Wives Tales
http://www.oldwivestales.net/article1022.html
I hope you find this information useful!
jackburton-ga
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