According to a piece in the Sminthsonian magazine, “pink and blue arrived as colors for babies in the mid-19th century, yet the two colors were not promoted as gender signifiers until just before World War I. ” It’s great to read about photos of a young FDR in a dress with long hair. According to social convention in 1884, when FDR was photographed at age 2 1/2, boys wore dresses until age 6 or 7, also the time of their first haircut.
2 thoughts on “Girls have always worn pink, right?”
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I always love telling people that years ago pink was a “strong” color for boys. Aesthetically, I think pink can be very arresting and assertive (and not simply annoying), so it makes intuitve sense to me.
You might dig an article I wrote for Slate on this very subject. It’s called “Pink is for Battleships: A history of a decidedly unladylike color.” Enjoy!
http://www.slate.com/id/2245052/