List of historical sources for pink and blue as gender signifiers

L'accouchement des dames, me dit-elle, s'annonce de cette manière, et quand la pelotte est fond rose, c'est le signe de l'avènement en ce monde d'une petite fille, tandis que la pelotte fond bleu annonce que c'est un garçon....
Ladies Childbirth, she said, is announced in this manner, and when the pincushion is pink background, this is a sign of the coming into this world a little girl, while the blue background pelotte announces that it is a boy. ^[5]

Assez communément, dans ce dernier cas, ou double de satin rose s'il s'agit d'une petite fille, et de satin bleu s‘il s'agit d'un garçon.
Quite commonly, in the latter case, or double pink satin in the case of a little girl, and blue satin if it is a boy. ^[6]

On the front of many shops you see inscribed, in gilt letters, "Coffins sold here;" and within you find hundreds of those narrow houses, piled upon and beside one another, for all religions, for all ranks, for all ages; black, with golden crosses for the protestants [sic], brown and light colours for Russians of the Greek church, rose-coloured ones with white lace, for young girls; azure blue for boys. ^[7]

In all the upholsterers' shops, except the one alluded to, there are piles of coffins ready for all ages, sexes, ranks, and religions. Brown, purple, and light coloured ones for the Greco-Russians; black with gold ornaments for Protestants; rose-coloured ones decked with white laces for young girls; bright blue for boys. ^[8]

(Elle aperçoit le bouquet.) Ah! par exemple, voilà un bouquet qui s'est planté là tout seul...
(She sees the bouquet.) Ah! For example, here's a bouquet that was standing there alone, because I saw no one. It is for me, of course. (Examining the ribbons.) From the pink! it's a girl to marry ... blue! a boy who wants to marry ... black ribbon! that is to say we complained my mourning ... ^[9]

• The Illustrated London News - volume 19 - page 298

THE IMPERIAL LAYETTE. As everything connected with the birth of the heir of the French throne... But as blue is the colour appropriated to male children, as rose or pink is to those of the opposite sex.... ^[10]

• Godey's Magazine, volumes 52-53 edited by Louis Antoine Godey, Sarah Josepha Buell Hale^[11]

But as blue is the color appropriated to male children, as rose or pink to those of the opposite sex....

• Putnam's Monthly - volume 7 - page 558

The World of New York: A layette (that is, baby clothes) must be prepared. Shall it be a layette of pink, for girl, or a layette of blue, for a boy? ^[12]

FASHIONS FOR MARCH. Fig. XI.--Cap for Christening.--The crown is made of Valenciennes.... On the left side of the cap, in the plaits of the band, is a pretty rosette of No. 4 blue ribbon, if for a boy, pink for a girl. ^[13]

Assez souvent on garnit l'intérieur de la capote en soie bleue pour les petits garçons, et en soie rose pour les petites filles, cette soie qui est toujours ouatée et piquée, forme transparent sous les fronces en mousseline des fuseaux de la capote.
Quite often is packed inside the blue silk top for boys and pink for girls silk, this silk is always padded and quilted, transparent form the gathers of chiffon time of the hood. ^[14]

En Hollande—Lettres a un ami - ...j’aperçus sur une porte une sorte de large pelotte ensoie rose enrichie de dentelles.

...I saw a door on a kind of wide pink pincushion ensoie enriched with lace. I went quickly to the information Haarlem and I learned that when a woman has just given birth, we learn to passers by putting this item on the door whose Dutch name impossible to remember, pronounce and even write, means: proof of birth. it is pink for girls and blue for boys. This bizarre practice was introduced here, they say, the time of the Spaniards. ^[15]

...terminé par une garniture assortie aux revers du corsage; au- dessus de la manche, tu placeras un nœud en ruban de taffetas, bleu pour un garçon, rose pour une fille...
...finished with a trim matching the lapels of the bodice; above the neck, you will place a taffeta ribbon bow, blue for boys, pink for a girl... ^[16]

Du Baptême - Ces bonnets peuvent être entièrement blancs. Sinon la couleur rose est d'obligation pour une fille et le bleu pour un garçon.
The Baptism - These caps can be completely white. Otherwise the color pink is an obligation for a girl and blue for a boy. ^[17]

Fig. 5. (Baptismal Robe.)—A broad sarsnet ribbon passed across one shoulder is fixed in a bow on the opposite side of the waist; the long ends flowing over the skirt of the robe. For a boy this ribbon should be blue, and for a girl pink.

Sketches of the offices of the Greco-Russian Church
Little babies have their christening shirt put on... A little boy's wrapper is bound round the waist and confined at the wrists by blue ribbons, and an amber, wooden, or stone cross—no matter, so that it be not silver or gold—is put round his neck by a blue ribbon. A little girl's dress is the same, but with pink ribbons. ^[18]

Fashion for April - Furnished by Mr. G. Brodie, 300 Canal Street, New York, and drawn by Voigt from actual articles of Costume.
The Infant's Robe is specially designed for baptismal use. It is composed of fine nansouk and insertion. If the child is a boy, the ribbon sash is blue; if a girl, it is of pink taffeta. ^{[19] [20] [21]}

For very tiny mites, there is nothing prettier than blue or pink French merino or mousseline-de-laine; the former for a boy, the latter for a girl. ^[22]

DEVIS DE LAYETTE - Une robe de baptême.... ...rose pour une petite fille, - bleu pour un petit garçon.
QUOTE LAYETTE - A christening gown .... in-between lace and embroidery - or scalloped ruffles, separated by four or five small folds ... ...for increasingly shorter strips across the front of the dress; it will be placed on a bottom taffeta or calico, pink for a little girl - blue for a boy. ^[23]

Robe de baptême - Selon la coutume de Paris, on met sous cette robe une robe rose pour une petite fille, bleue pour un petit garçon.
According to the custom of Paris, this dress is put in a pink dress for a little girl, blue for a boy. ^[24]

Berceau orne - Le berceau est habillé avec de la percaline rose pour une petite fille, bleue pour un petit garçon, si’ on veut suivre la coutume de Paris....
Ornamented cradle - The cradle is dressed with pink calico for a little girl, blue for a little boy, if we want to follow the custom of Paris.... ^[25]

page 236 - A little boy's wrapper is bound round the waist and confined at the wrists by blue ribbons; and an amber, wooden, or stone cross—no matter, so that it not be silver or gold—is hung round his neck by a blue ribbon. A little girl's dress is the same, but with pink ribbons.^[26]

Bonnet de baptême - Le bonnet est garni de ruban rose (s'il est destiné â une petite fille) ou bleu (pour un petit garçon)....
Baptism bonnet - The hat is trimmed with pink ribbon (if it is intended at a girl) or blue (for a boy).... ^[27]

Of course my baby was to be a bottle baby.... I was radical, progressive, hated restraint and conventionalism, and duty.... ...little wagons,—pink for girls, blue for boys,—containing shelves...holding the necks of baby bottles.... ^[28]

"Are they boys? What are you going to name them?"
"Boy and girl, aren't they beauties?" ...
"Amy put a blue ribbon on the boy and a pink on the girl, French fashion, so you can always tell."^[29]

Robe de baptême - ORNÉE DE GUIPURE SUR FILET ...rose pour une petite fille, bleu pour un petit garçon.
Christening dress DECORATED ON NET OF GUIPURE - This dress is made of chiffon, and topped by front and plastron on the bodice with lace on the fillet.... Shoulder knots and ribbon belt having 4 centimeters wide, pink for a girl, blue for a boy. The sleeves are also made of guipure fllet. ^[30]

Les hospices a Paris, by Maxime Du Camp
Tous les jours, la préfecture de police et les hôpitaux.... Every day, the police headquarters and hospitals send the Hospice of the Rue d'Enfer the children.... To recognize at first sight the abandoned children and children registered, they are given until the age of five years a distinctive sign, which is a necklace....with a silver medal bearing the face image of St. Vincent de Paul, the word Paris on the back, and a serial number, which is that of registration....it is blue for boys filed, pink for girls: more on the side of the coin, above the serial number, it bears the word deposit. ^[31]

The prettiest trimming for a baby`s cradle is to cover it first with colored silk (blue for a boy, and pink for a girl, is the Parisian fashion) ^[32]

Donald and Dorothy by Mary Mapes Dodge
"Always blue on the boy and pink on the girl — my lady's orders were very strict on that point." ^[33]

At Haarlem, on such occasions, it is usual to place a garland ornamented with lace—more or less expensive according to the means of the resident—on the door of the house in which a birth takes place. Pink is the usual colour for a girl, and blue for a boy. It is I stated that the custom originated in 1572, when the town ... ^[34]

In another room we saw six pine coffins, containing the little ones who had died that day. Their shrouds were cotton cloth, scalloped by scissors and the sleeves and wrists, with a pink bow in the cap if a girl, and blue if a boy. ^[35]

Le costume est uniforme : robe de cotonnade rose pour les fillettes, de cotonnade bleue pour les garçons. Quand les familles sont trop pauvres pour fournir ce vêtement, on le leur donne.
The costume is uniform: pink cotton dress for girls, blue for boys cotton. When families are too poor to provide this garment, it is given. ^[36]

La comtesse de Montesquiou, femme du plus haut mérite...
The Countess de Montesquiou, wife of the highest merit, was appointed governess to the children of France, with two sub-governesses and Mrs Mesgrigny Boubers, which were joined later a third, Madame Soufflot. Is chosen as a beautiful nurse and robust woman, married to a carpenter of Fontainebleau, and they prepared two small beds, a blue for a prince, a princess in a pink. The layette, estimated at three hundred thousand francs, was the admiration of all the ladies of the court.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS - U.—Pink is the color for baby girls’ ribbons, and blue for boys. There is no new form of announcing the birth of an infant. ^[37]

A white silk-lined basket filled with dainty garments stood before her; little shirts of finest linen, made with the skill of practised fingers; soft socks with blue ribbons. "Blue for a boy, pink for a girl," murmered Leonie to herself, as she smiled sweetly over her labor of love. ^[38]

New York Fashion—Magnificent colors will be seen this fall
New York, July 12—
... The newest style in infants' robes is to use valenciennes lace instead of embroideries, as they are finer and more delicate. Blue satin ribbons are for boys, pink for girls.

New York Fashions
Mate Leroys discusses the revival of ancient styles
There was a mite of a hoof of cashmere to go with it. Pink ribbons are for girls and blue for boys. Loving mothers prefer making the garments for the little strangers....

The nurse, with her charge, is always a conspicuous figure on the streets of a Russian city. The fantastic garb of coronet and beads constitute one of the most picturesque costumes in Russia; and you can tell by its color whether her charge is a boy or a girl. If a boy, the prevailing color will be blue ; if a girl, pink. ^[39]

BABY'S BLANKET: "Blue is used for boys', pink is for girls'. ^[40]

The Baby's Dainty Blanket
The French think blue the most appropriate for boys, and pink for girls.

CHAPITRE II - Admission des enfants. Le système d'admission des enfants abandonnés est le même à Moscou qu'à Saint-Pétersbourg....
The intake system of abandoned children is the same in Moscow than in St. Petersburg.... The person who brings a child and admit the fact, receives a newsletter, pink for girls, blue for boys, which bears the registration number and the indication of the filing date. ^[41]

From Our Regular New York Fashion Correspondent
The very latest nursery fad is a silkeu hammock for the new baby.... First on the net is laid a silk quilted blanket, pink for a girl, blue for a boy.... byline DALPHINE

Le papier et le bristol blancs avec caractères noirs sont la marque de la suprême correction ou de la très grande simplicité. Certaines personnes préfèrent les couleurs symboliques : le bleu pour un garçon, le rose pour une fille.
Paper and white card stock with black characters are the hallmark of the Supreme correction or very simple. Some people prefer the symbolic colors: blue for a boy, pink for a girl. ^[42]

The Baby's Toilet - Chapter XI - The Baby's Basket - It is a French fancy to have blue for a boy and pink for a girl, but pale primrose yellow, delicate green, or crimson in winter, look equally well. ^[43]

Some one color should be chosen for the baby's belongings and used wherever color is permissible. Pink for a girl and blue for a boy is the established usage. Pale green, crimson, and yellow are all pretty. ^[44]

CORRESPONDENCIA PARTICULAR. El rosa es más para niñas, y el azul para los niños; pero creo debe usted hacerle ó traje del color que mejor le vaya á la cara. / The pink is for girls and blue for boys; but I think you should give or costume color best fits your face. - Señora Doña Francisca I. ^[45]

It is then weighed, measurements made of its length, size of head and chest, which are inscribed on a card, blue for boys and pink for girls, bearing its name, age, and sex; in fact, all important data can be found upon this card. ^[46]

How Russia Cares for her Foundlings by J. L. Hildreth, M.D., Cambridge, Mass.
Read before the Cambridge Medical Improvement Society, April 25, 1898.

The two sexes are distinguished by the boys having blue and the girls pink cards, bearing their names and numbers, fastened about the neck; also the same color upon some part of their clothing. It seemed odd to find, in far-off Russia, the very same assignment of colors as among the petted babies of our own land. ^[47]

FRENCH SOCIAL CUSTOMS. by Lionel Strachey
The mother's and nurse's dress is blue or pink, according to whether the child, which is clad in white, is a boy or a girl. ^[48]

Regalo mas usual para el niño consiste en el ropón muy lujoso con adornos rosa para las niñas azul para los niños.
More usual gift for the child is very luxurious robe trimmed pink for girls blue for boys. ^[49]

When the dues are paid, each child receives a badge—pink for girls, and blue for boys. ^[50]

Un gros nœud rose pour les filles, bleu pour les garçons, ou crème pour les uns et les autres....
A big pink bow for girls, blue for boys, or cream each other.... ^[51]

Usually, the first baby's basket is lined with pink or blue—pink if a girl is desired, blue for a boy—and is covered with dotted muslin, and decked with flounces, laces, and ribbons. ^[52]

Documentes familiares y epistolares, postales y telegráficos. / Documents family and epistolary, postal and telegraph.
Participaciones de nacimiento se envían dentro de los diez días siguientes, generalmente impresas en tarjetones de más ó lujo, blancos ó de fantasía, y a veces de cartulina azul para los niños y rosa para las ninas.
Birth shares are shipped within the next ten days, usually printed flyer or more luxury, white or fantasy, and sometimes blue cardboard for boys and pink for girls. ^[53]

The old fancy of "pink for a girl" and "blue for a boy" is still a pretty tradition, yet I think the daintiest baskets I have ever seen have been entirely of white.... ^[54]

A large supply of cradles
At one extremity is column, bearing the emblem of Rome, a female figure wearing a helmet and holding in the right hand the royal Italian crown. The angel which supports the cradle at the other side clasps in its arms the united shields of the house of Savoy, that of the king, and the house of Montenegro, of which the queen is a member.
Italian mothers and nurses always carry a small child upon a pillow, with ribbons of appropriate color—pink for a boy and blue for a girl.

...parcels neatly tied up in ribbon—blue for boys, and pink for girls.... ^[55]

Dreamland reopens and shows new glories.
The Coney Island season received added impetus yesterday. Dreamland threw open its doors with the annual flourish of trumpets....
One of the old features the crowd liked best yesterday was the infant incubator exhibit. Seven sterilized infants under glass in regulated temperatures and antisepticised atmosphere slept peacefully in their little white blankets. The boys had blue ribbons tied around them and the girls pink, and not one was over two weeks old. A model sterilized nursery goes with this exhibit.

After the layette has been provided, comes the fitting out of the basket. Usually, the first baby's basket is lined with pink or blue—pink, if a girl is desired, blue for a boy—and is covered with dotted muslin, and decked with flounces, laces, and ribbons. ^[56]

page 32 Blue - the color supposed to exercise a gracious influence over the budding destinies of, and to be especially becoming and appropriate to, boy babies as, conversely, pink is for girls.

page 187 Pink - alleged English for red; used only in connection with hunting coats (properly scarlet refines). Pink - a color not to be worn by boy babies.^[57]

DUTCH AWAIT THE ROYAL BABY
It is the custom here to ornament a baby's cradle with pink ribbons for a girl and blue for a boy.

Luxurious Preparations for the AUTUMN BABY
...and the white bassinette is trimmed with a big ribbon bowe—blue for a boy, according to the old tradition, and pink for a girl.

All dealers are familiar with the increasing use of special form announcements to herald the arrival of the new born. ... There are two boxes, the prevailing color of one being pink, for girls, and the other blue, for boys. ^[58]

The few children playing there were attended by stout nurses wearing caps shaped like coronets.
"Some wear blue ribbons, and some pink, do you see?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Blue, if their charge is a boy; pink if it is a girl." ^[59]

Birth Announcement
The correct announcement card which is sent out to intimate friends within twenty-four hours after baby's arrival is a beveled edge six-inch square of highly glazed cardboard.... "Name, Date of Birth, and Signature," in blue lettering if the recent arrival is a boy and in pink for a girl.

Color: Pink for girls, Light blue for boys. ^[60]

The World of Fashion - Luxuries for King Baby
Of course everyone knows—or soon discovers—the tradition about "blue for a boy and pink for a girl" and trims her baskets according to her hopes—though many a lusty boy has had to endure girlish pink belongings, and many a lovely wee girl has gone through babyhood suffering the indignity of masculine blue.

The sexes have their own colours, beginning in the nursery with blue for boys, pink for girls. ^[61]

Their straw hats and bare legs, their Normandy nurses, with enormous head-dresses, blue for a boy and pink for a girl, were, of the sights of Paris, one of the most familiar. ^[62]

But it's the bassinet, if you must know. Pink is for girls, Jack.^[63]

The Dental Clinic Card, reproduced on page 646, can be obtained from the Dental Manufacturing Co. (blue for boys and pink' for girls). The Head Teacher is expected to complete this card as far as possible in readiness for the School Dentist's visit. ^[64]

Introduction, General report, Charts and diagrams, Abstract of legislation, Epitomes of local reports, by E. W. Hope. v. 2. Midwives and midwifery, Voluntary work for infant welfare, Play centres and playgrounds
Case papers take the form of cards, pink for girls, blue for boys ^[65]

Case papers take the form of cards — pink for girls, blue for boys, grey for the expectant mothers, and white for the visitors. ^[66]

BABY'S RECORD By Fanny Cory and Betsy Hill
A delightfully illustrated and decorated book for preserving a complete record of those important first years of a baby's life. Exquisitely printed in two colors on fine writing stock, and bound in colors of special significance, blue for boys, and pink for girls. ^[67]

Opening of Livingston Bros.' New Store Is Colorful Event
Modern Nursery
A little away from the beaten path of the models the newly installed modern nursery held a group of women enthralled with the daintiness of its appointments in "pink for girls and blue for boys."

....maternity hospital in New York City.... The sex of the baby is indicated by the color of the beads—blue for a boy and pink for a girl. ^[68]

An Indian Maid with bow and arrows presided at the tree, and agreeably explained that the articles in blue were for boys, and pink for girls. Each person, on payment of five cents, was permitted to shoot at the tree with bow and arrow till.... ^[69]

Vogue essays on etiquette: Questions and answers
What are the proper colours for the different sexes? Blue for boy. Pink for girl. ^[70]

perked up in blue or pink, for boy or girl, respectively, to announce that the little stranger had arrived ^[71]

"I must share them with the children; and this pink ribbon—pink for a girl, blue for a boy! It'll do for baby's bonnet. What lovely ribbon, silk all through!" ^[72]

Blue is for boys; pink for girls. ^[73]

"...Why should mothers buy blue for boy babies and pink for girl babies? The psychology of colors has always interested me." ^[74]

Colors for Birth Announcements - The Greeting Card Association, 354 Fourth Ave., New York, has issued the following bulletin... ...and the annual meeting unanimously adopted... That, effective January 1, 1927, the colors used by all members on birth announcements be blue for boys and pink for girls. ^[75]

Q—What color birth announcements are used for boys and what for girls?
A—Blue for boys and pink for girls. ^[76]

NANCY PAGE: Re-peter Gets Bank Book and Kodak in Color by Florence La Ganke
The kodak seemed very much a gift since it came in a colored case and had a colored frame of its own. It was dainty enough for a small baby. The color of the case was blue. That is because, thought Nancy, the baby is a boy. Thank goodness, it is now considered correct to use blue for boys and pink for girls. The other color scheme always seemed wrong. Pink is a little girl's color, always. And anyway, B stands for blue and for boy. Had the baby been a girl the friend would have sent a kodak in a shade of rich rose.

BLUE FOR BOYS,
PINK FOR GIRLS
The Daily...conducted a two-day poll...on the prohibition question.... Men voted on blue ballots, women on pink, so the results could be kept separate. ^[77]

Conduct and Common Sense by Anne Singleton, The Christening
An angel cake, which is all white, inside and out, would be more suitable. The baby's name might appear on it in blue letters for a boy, or pink letters for a girl, and the baby's mother would cut it.

Modern Etiquette by Roberta Lee
Q. In what color should a baby be dress?
A. The customary colors are blue for a boy, pink for a girl.

Mothers Protest Blue Seal On Baby Girls' Birth Records
...protesting against the color of the town's seal on birth certificates, and the town officials are considering a change of the blue seal to a neutral hue.... The mothers have petitioned that the town to use a pink seal on their baby girls' birth certificates.

MODES AND MANNERS - Blue is for boys and pink for girls, according to tradition....

Published by the Milton Bradley Company - includes music (mostly songs with piano accompaniment).
They started sewing with heavy thread, the boys' blue, and the girls' pink, and large needles. ^[78]

To the ladies: New non-breakable nursing bottles go gay — blue for boys, pink for girls;... ^[79]

Good Taste - Reg. U. S. Pat. Office - by Francine Markel
Dear Miss Markel—I must buy a gift for a baby girl. We have had a disagreement as to whether blue is for a girl or a boy. E. H.
Answer—Technically, blue is for a boy and pink for a girl. But really this question is not taken do seriously now as it once was....

Once there was quite an argument among our customers as to what were official colors for babies. I learned through communicating with the Jewish Hospital nearby that blue is proper for boys and pink for girls ; while white is proper for a gift if.... ^[80] American Druggist - volume 95, page 116

THE BABY RULE: PINK FOR GIRLS, BLUE FOR BOYS by Joan Durham

PINK is for girls.
Blue is for boys.
But tattle-tale GRAY for a baby?
NEVER! ^[81]

".... A girl 16 years old living half a mile from us put on a pink dress and soon she was married. In a little while her grandmother, age 79, put on a pink dress and now she's married, too."
Which really helps settle that long-drawn argument about the correct colors for babies. I stood firm for pink for girls, blue for boys.

Infants' Clothing, by A. Varron (page 1148)
It is remarkable that pale blue as the habitual colour for boys', and pale pink for girls', christening-dresses did not become general until the nineteenth century. Prior to that time yellow was the colour for the trimmings of baptismal clothes. ^[82]

"Pink is for girls, Blue is for boys." -C- Feb. 25th, 1939 A 98213"
Fenner and Beane, New York 21684-21689 ^[83]

Both of these cards are punched with two holes at the top and tied with blue, pink, or white ribbon — blue for a boy, pink for a girl, or white for either. ^[84]

Notes for the Shopper Around Town: Blackout Materials Shown, Methods Demonstrated -A Variety of Gifts
Gifts for New Babies are likely to be an expensive item.... A carriage robe or crib blanket for gala occasions is in Macy's Needlework Department for #1.29. In plushy bunny cloth (pink for girls, blue for boys)....

'Double Talk'-Twin Members Of Younger Set
The twins have separate little beds and their personal accessories are in the traditional "blue for boys and pink for girls."

for and about WOMEN (section) - GRISSON GRAMS (display ad)
Gift for a new baby.... Log O' Life Baby Book.... In blue for boys—pink for girls. 1.95
Ernest Grisson's 220 CYPRESS

Children's styles shown in France
Paris, March 1--Boys and girls.... Some print material is used for both, but the background is blue for boys and pink for girls.

Roshek's (display ad) - Cover baby with a fine all wool blanket that is all "his" or "her" very own. Pink for girls and blue for boys.

...un ruban bleu pour les garçons, rose pour les filles à La Bâtie-des-Vigneaux.
...a blue ribbon for boys, pink for girls at La Batie des Vigneaux. ^[85]

This Is Your Hospital - THE FOOD IS EXCELLENT
Bath Memorial Hospital....In the nursery the color scheme of blue for boys and pink for girls is carried out in the batter of blankets.

DOROTHY DIX - Blue for boys. Pink for girls.

Blue For A Boy— Pink For A Girl and Vieni Su, Victor 20- 3549. Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra, with vocals by V. M., The Moon Men and The Moon Maids. ^[86]

And Charles of the Ritz has a wonderful powder base they call Complexion Veil. ... Isn't it lucky that pink is for girls? ^[87]

There was a time when we thought children were not readily affected by color, so we used baby blue for a boy's room and pink for a girl's. Today, the psychologist tells us.... ^[88]

Q. How did the custom of pink for a girl and blue for a boy originate?
A. It is generally believed to have sprung from the old custom in Holland of hanging pink and blue ribbons on the door to announce a birth—Blue for a boy, and pink for a girl.

The fabric used is gay — gay pink for a girl or gay blue for a boy....

Baby's Personal Birthday Candle (display ad)
Pink ribbon for girls—blue for boys. - Lion's Novelties Inc., 139 Payson Ave., New York 34, N.Y.

Weill Specialty Company, Brooklyn, has introduced a kiddie shoe bag.... The bags come in blue for boys, pink for girls. ^[89]

Carter's Play-Jama...$2.95 Three-piece cotton knit set, gently elasticized, for nap time or romp time. Pink for girls, blue for boys; sizes S, M, L.

News of the Advertising and Marketing Fields
'Remembrance' Ads
A diaper service distributes pens to new mothers, suggesting that the pen (blue for boys, pink for girls) be used for thank-you notes.

Lambert Brothers (display ad), Lexington at 60th, Jewelers since 1877
The unforgettable baby gift
A book whose parchment pages.... ....genuine gold leaf on blue for boys; silver on pink for girls.

Gimbels (display ad)
baby name bracelets
...pink for girls, blue for boys.

Russeks (display ad)
3-in-1 pram convertible
...sleeping bag...pram suit...toddler's snowsuit...
Pink for girls with bonnet. Blue for boys with helmet.

Bloomingdale's (display ad)
Lexington and 59th Street
Baby Sale
Two-pant suit 2.98 Originally 3.98
...cotton crib set... Pink for girls, blue for boys.

Infants are nowadays usually dressed in white while they are still in the carriage; when they begin to crawl they are dressed in the urban style of pink for girls, blue for boys. ^[90]

Surveys have shown that in Belgium and parts of Eastern France the ' blue for a boy and pink for a girl ' convention is reversed. ^[91]

Some of us still prefer the traditional "blue for boys, pink for girls." ^[92]

Washrooms could be Pink for girls and Light Teal Blue for boys. ^[93]

The Question Many by N.A. O'Hara
What do you wear to bed?
You know the old saying about pink for girls and blue for boys.

This is a new ceremony marking the birth of a child. The parents are given a memorial medal—pink if it is a girl and blue if a boy. On it are engraved the child's name, date and place of birth. VERDICT AFTER 1 26 YEARS On a cold winter's ... ^[94]

MILBACH SPRINGS
The first graders brought their baby pictures. These are posted in the traditional "Blue for boys" and "Pink for girls" background and colors and marked by numbers.

Fortrel is for the two of you. (display ad) - FREITAG'S snuggly sleepwear.... Blue for boys; pink for girls.

When Peter discovers his blue furniture is being painted pink for a new baby sister, he rescues the last unpainted item, a chair, and runs away. ^[95]

"Pink is for girls ," I told her. "Blue is for boys." "No, pink is for boys," she insisted. I didn't argue.... ^[96]

B. Altman & Co., Fifth Ave.
Also: SPECIAL PURCHASE STRIPED COVERALLS.... Of course, blue for boys and pink for girls.

(advertisement) GLOBEMASTER FALCON BIKE - Sporty looking flamboyant blue for boys pink for girls with white buddy seat, chromed wheels....

Using Toys to Free Children From the Roles Society Dictates by Nadine Brozan
...in the nursery? No more pink for girls and blue for boys, dolls for girls...

Nicky can't announce a simple tribute like "Blue is for boys; pink is for girls" without getting a long talk about sexism.... ^[97]

(display ad) BONWIT TELLER - Resort Rompers for Binwit Babies - Blue for boys or pink for girls.

Results of a color-coded vocational guidance test she took (pink for girls, blue for boys) showed she had a special aptitude for.... ^[98]

The Artful Lodger / Joan Kron Sheets: the new security blanket
Solid-color sheets have masculine and feminine weights too—you know, pink for girls and blue for boys. ^[99]

...while sex-role stereotyping is all-pervasive in society, starting, for example, with infants and toddlers who learn that blue is for boys and pink is for girls... ^[100]

I blame the men, too, but social conditioning does start in the cradle, with pink for girls and blue for boys. ^[101]

....name cards — and of course, the blankets — are often color-coded, pink for girls and blue for boys. ^[102]

...birth announcement...cards...(pink for girls, blue for boys)... ^[103]

...a lesbian who had been in the gay community for several years, is that "pink is for girls, blue is for boys, so the color in between, lavender, is for homosexuals." ^[104]

Thus, it is blue for boys, pink for girls, dolls or toy trucks.... ^[105]

Organization: it's just a matter of time by Jane Covington, Life Editor
.... Then she color codes the wrappings so that she knows gift packages in pink are for girls and those in blue for boys while yellow means the gift is appropriate for either.

Gifts are usually given in whites, yellows, and greens, but some women give outfits in either blue "for boys" or pink "for girls," with much joking between the mother-to-be and gift-giver about what will be done if the child is the "wrong sex".... ^[106]

Gifts are usually given in whites, yellows, and greens, but some women give outfits in either blue "for boys" or pink "for girls," with much joking between the mother-to-be and gift-giver about what will be done if the child is the "wrong sex".... ^[106]

The use of blue for boys and pink for girls goes back well before Rubens's time, but, in paintings of the period, does not indicate gender reliably. ^[107]

Eventually I got my first pair glasses, blue for boys and pink for girls.... This was around 1944, and the N.H.S. was a few years away.

Traditionally, pink is the colour for baby girls and blue for boys. ^[108]

Froebel in Naples
These little mortals of the Kindergarten...
The blouse worn by all, paying and non-paying—pink for the boys, blue for the girls—covered, it is true, dresses of very different cost and handsomeness, but all were clean and tidy. Between twelve and one o'clock the children have their "minestra" (soup) and play in the garden. ^[109]

Hints on Home Dress-Making by Emma M. Hooper
SELECTIONS OF COLORS AND STUFFS
Pure white is used for all babies—blue for girls and pink for boys, when a color is wished. ^[110]

In those lands where two layettes are seemingly prepared, — one with pink ribbons for the boy, and one with blue ribbons for the girl, — the sentiment is still the same, and the unknown still hangs its halo round the sacred little store. ^[111]

"Oh, pink for a boy and blue for a girl!" exclaims a young woman who is preparing some gifts for a newly arrived nephew.

"There are, in the first place, six knitted shirts, made of the finest Saxony; six knitted bands, and a dozen socks, assorted sizes. These are of fine, soft wool, and may be either all white or varied with pink and blue—no other colors for a little baby. The pink is usually considered the color for a boy and the blue for a girl, but mothers use their own taste in such matters....

All Through the Year by Mrs. M. C. Myer.
"Cuddledown Town"
A marked color-line now exists in the toilets and appointments of the boy and girl-baby. If a flutter of pink is noticeable as the royal carriage passes, it is safe to conclude that His Majesty "the King" is taking an airing. If light blue decorations are in evidence, behold! it is the Queen! ^[112]

Mrs. Wells of Utica excited great interest in her Baby Band and their badges, pink for boys and blue for girls. ^[113]

For Baby's Layette
With wool in which there is a little silk, the little sock has the lower part of blue for a girl baby and pink for the small boy, usually combined with white....

It is customary to trim the little clothes preparatory to the stork's visit with blue, if a girl is wanted, and pink for a boy.—Atchison Globe

In the Shops
The velvet used with them is one of two colors, pink or blue, the two colors usually see in the cradles or layettes of babies, pink for the boys, blue for the small girls.

Cost of the American Baby
During their early months the little man and little woman dress exactly alike unless Master Baby should have pink for the prevailing color in his wardrobe and its accessories—the baby boy color; while Miss Baby will have blue, as that is supposed to be the girl baby color.

One of the Silver Cups Be Given to a Prize Baby of Los Gatos
All boybabies are to wear a pink ribbon and all girl babies will wear a blue ribbon.

For the Baby
There are many things which can be embroidered or entirely made by the clever aunt or best friend of the new arrival's mother. Usually they should be in white, though pink for a boy and blue for a girl are also sanctioned.

Another change is the decline of patents with pink or blue uppers—blue for girl babies, pink for boys. ^[114]

....a postcard notice of the fact that a birth certificate has been files.... The cards are in colors—pink for boys and blue for girls—and contain spaces for names.... ^[115]

The Bright Side of Sunshine Land—People and Their Doings—a Hundred Happy Affairs: A DEBUTANTE'S LETTER.
We are tremendously interested in Clara's coming event—is she banking on pink or blue? Pink for a boy, blue for a girl, you know. Lavender for twins.

20,000 WOMEN MEET IN ARMORY TONIGHT § Mrs. W. J. Bryan a Guest
They are talking of fixing up a day nursery to accommodate club babies at the armory so the mothers and grandmothers who have brought the babies along can attend the convention and feel that the children are safe. It will be decorated in blue, blue being the color for little girls, while pink is for boys. This is a woman's convention.

"Pink for boys; blue for boys," holds good in these little affairs.... —Winifred Worth

"Pink is for boys," she said, and led the way upstairs. ^[116]

The Baby Carriage, by Bosworth Crocker
Mrs. Rooney: Pink is for boys. I wanted a girl, having Mickey then. ^[117]

Cradle Roll Certificate
A beautifully and artistically designed certificate, printed in four delicate and appropriate colors, gold and pink for boys, gold and blue for girls, predominating. ^[118]

advertisement for Rogers, Lunt & Bowlin Co., Silversmiths, Greenfield, Massachusetts Illustration shows a three-piece Baby Set in special Gift Box—blue for girls, pink for boys. ^[119]

In different sections of the country there are different interpretations of colors for children. The old symbolism, however, is blue for a girl and pink for a boy. ^[120]

Macy's Display Ad

• Blue for a Girl and Pink for a Boy
• (footnote): Some say, "pink for a girl and blue for a boy." Our advice is still: choose pink—it's prettiest.

According to a traditional color scheme, which is of unknown origin, baby boys are properly dressed in pink clothing and baby girls in blue, although in some parts of the country, particularly in the Southern States, this symbolical color arrangement is reversed and baby boys are dressed in blue and girls in pink. ^[121]

("Pink is for boys and blue is for girls," said a first-grader.) ^[122]

Nor should one follow religiously the old rule " blue for the fair and pink for the dark" or "blue for girls and pink for boys." ^[123]

'Pink is for boys, and blue is for girls.'
'It is not! It's the other way around!' ^[124]

Afin d'éviter toute méprise dans le service journalier d'un tel établissement, chaque pensionnaire portera un petit collier ... (ambre pour les filles, et ivoire pour les garçons)... Comme aussi le ruban qui enchaînera les grains d'ivoire et d'ambre, sera de la couleur depuis longtemps adoptée et en usage en notre pays, c'est-à-dire, bleu pour les uns, et rose pour les autres.

To avoid any misunderstanding in the daily service of such a facility, each resident will wear a small necklace ... (amber for girls and for boys ivory); ... As the ribbon that will chain of ivory and amber grain, the color will have long adopted and in use in our country, that is to say, for some blue and pink for others. ^[125]