When Pink Was For Boys
More family textiles are coming my way, including some of my father-in-law’s baby clothes, from the late 1920s.
This romper has a rare note with it, saying who made it.
The construction is very interesting to me, because it was made in two distinct, finished pieces, but then sewn together as one. The bottom of the waistband is hand-stitched to the top, and then a decorative “belt” snaps to the top, with buttons disguising the snaps.
The fact that the buttons are pink would have thrown me, except that in old novels, I have read that pink was assigned to boys.
Here are quotes from two novels by the same author, Mary Roberts Rinehart. In the first, two characters have worked together to create a bathrobe for a boy in the hospital.
The bathrobe was finished. Out of the little doctor’s chaos of pink flannel, Harmony had brought order. The result, masculine and complete even to its tassels and cord of pink yarn, was ready to be presented.
From The Street of Seven Stars (1914)
In this second quote, I have thrown in more wording than strictly necessary to make the point about pink, because I love how indirectly she explains what the character is knitting and why, and how she feels it needful to hide the construction of a baby afghan from her uncle.
The end of December, 1914, found Sara Lee quite contented… Knitting, too; but not for soldiers. She was, to be candid, knitting an afghan against an interesting event which involved a friend of hers.
Sara Lee rather deplored the event — in her own mind, of course, for in her small circle young unmarried women accepted the major events of life without question, and certainly without conversation. She never allowed, for instance, her Uncle James, with whom she lived, to see her working at the afghan; and even her Aunt Harriet had supposed it to be a sweater until it assumed uncompromising proportions…
‘Well,’ [the doctor] said when Sara Lee opened the door, ‘it’s a boy. Eight pounds. Going to be red-headed too.’ He chuckled.
‘A boy!’ said Sara Lee. ‘I — don’t you bring girl babies any more?’
The doctor put down his hat and glanced at her.
‘Wanted a girl, to be named for you?’
‘No, it’s not that. It’s only –‘ She checked herself. He wouldn’t understand… ‘I’ve put a blue bow on my afghan. Pink is for boys.’
from The Amazing Interlude (1918)
No one is really sure what exactly motivated the color switch, or when it was made. My own theory is that people like to adopt for girls what they perceive as masculine signs of power — the way that the boys’ names of Ashley, Madison, and Taylor have become common as girls’ names — and maybe the same thing happened to pink.
For a little more about the history of pink and blue, see this article from the Smithsonian.
Totally fascinating!!! I guess I haven’t given it much thought………………….
It does seem like “blue for boys and pink for girls” must be a very old tradition. I thought the mention of pink for a boy must be a typo, the first time I read it, but since then I have seen lots of references.
Yes. In further reading, our current colors are just that…..quite current. Well, I attribute a great many of these types of trends to the more affluent society of today AND astute marketing on the part of those companies who stand to benefit (example: Hallmark greeting cards…..have created “special days” to market their cards/boost sales. Ex. “Grandparents Day”!!!).
I think you are absolutely right about the affluence. And also, we are having smaller families. If you knew you were probably going to have 12 kids, you would make all the baby clothes very generic and long-lasting!
That was quite a photograph of Roosevelt……we have certainly been ‘brain washed’! Good article also, thanks.
Yes, I guess we think that whatever we grew up with is the norm!
I have written about this very topic myself in the past. As someone who grew up in the 70s in gender-neutral garb, I have a strong preference for that approach (although I wear mostly blue, myself). It would be great if we all felt free to express ourselves without being forced into a specific mould. It’s always good to be reminded that many customs have a relatively brief history and that they can change.
Yes, it does seem there would be a sizeable market for gender-neutral clothes for kids!
It’s funny though that I was a teen-ager in the 70s, and I remember that as a time when boys wore flashier clothes than now — the guy I dated wore polyester Nik Nik shirts with big designs — did you ever see those? Memorable!
That’s so funny. I don’t remember that, although I was fairly young in the seventies so maybe just missed it! I recall that my dad wore a lot of Adidas and suede. When I look at the photos though I marvel at how similar my clothes were to my brothers’ – lots of dark corduroys and blue and brown handknits.
So it’s the manufacturers that drive what parents are having their children wear. I remember a time when orange and lime green were very popular – the manufacturers made a lot of those 2 colors and immediately dropped them the next year.
It seems like there would be a market for less gender-specific clothing. I would imagine every parent must get tired of looking at variations of trucks and dinosaurs for boys and princess crowns for girls!
Interesting, but back in the olden days, if something was made for the new tot, chances were they had no clue to the sex. Nowadays we have that luxury. Imagine a quilter assigning pink hues to the blocks she made for her new grandchild, when born was a boy. Quilts and clothing were more utilitarian back then and less of an accessory like today.
Yes, according to that article, most baby clothes were white up until the beginning of the 1900s. Maybe that is why my father-in-law’s romper was white, with just the decorative pink touch that could be added later, and also, the fictional afghan had only a bow added to signify the baby’s gender.
I don’t like pastels, so when my children were born, I found the brightest colours for them to wear.
And I think research has shown that bright colors are great for kids! Wouldn’t it be interesting to do research to see if kids dressed in pastels when young tend to have more muted personalities when older, compared to kids who wore bright colors? Or if it made no difference? Or if color choices are related some how to parenting styles? I wish I had thought of all this back when I was taking psychology classes in college! 🙂
Great post–nostalgia, provenance, and a little domestic history thrown in for good measure!
Thank you! It feels like I haven’t done a “real” post in a while so I’m glad I could throw in a little history at least! 🙂
Also, little boys wore dresses too (in England anyway). If only clothes made today were designed to last for decades instead of months.
I guess we know they are only going to have to last through a kid or two, instead of a dozen. 🙂
J > I was born in the late 50s, and a very early photo of me shows I was in a dress-like clothing: my mum told me it was to make it easier to change nappies. That didn’t last long – perhaps a few months – perhaps until my christening? ; but historically boys were dressed in frocks certainly until they were walking. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeching_(boys)
I will have to look in our family photos and see if I can find one of my father-in-law as a baby. This romper had snaps on the bottom so it was designed for those practical needs, but I would think this was for his toddler stage, so maybe he wore dresses before that.
My Dad and Mom who were born 1919/1920 respectively, both were dressed in gowns until toddler age. Pictures that i have show them in items similar to the outfit here. Unfortunately the pics are only black n white.
I have included your blog in INTERESTING BLOGS on FRIDAY FOSSICKING at
https://thatmomentintime-crissouli.blogspot.com/2017/07/friday-fossicking-28th-july-2017.html
Thank you, Chris
Kids were really dressed to the 9s in the past! It doesn’t look very practical!
I was thinking that maybe this outfit was for best, and that’s why they kept it, that and the fact that they knew the maker. But it does show signs of wear, including ripped out snaps. And the other 2 outfits of his that they saved were white too! Maybe he was just a well-behaved kid. 🙂
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It’s so funny to see that colors have switched within the last century. I was in Japan, asking someone if it was pink for girls and blue for boys there, and got a “yes” answer with an “of course” look…in a culture where how you hang your laundry is significant! (Don’t assume anything.)
That is interesting that they share those color preferences. I used to teach in a preschool with kids from all over the world — it was a revelation to us to see the bento boxes that the Japanese kids came to school with, such works of art! So I know a little about their emphasis on presentation. I would not have guess it would extend to how you hang your laundry, though!
Hi! I have a couple of comments. Firstly I have just been sorting my Granny’s buttons and found two just like these, in a blotchy pink 😃. She was born in 1916 and only recently died. And yes, pink was regarded as a version of red and as masculine as we might find that colour. As for the clothing, white was simply the most practical, believe it or not, as removing stains could be a difficult job but is, in fact, easiest on white where you can use bleach or gall soap or just hotter water; any colour would become blotchy, and babies mess…
White was predominant for babies for a lot longer than you suggest. Baby clothes were passed to me for my daughter born 1984 in mainly white with a little pastel and the babygros/onesies available at the time here in Europe were also often white, certainly from the usual shops like Mothercare. Remember, too, that clothing was passed down a lot, so the more neutral, the better. And cloth nappies/diapers are also traditionally white!
Lastly, there is also an element of purety in white, as seen in Christening gowns, First Communion and wedding dresses and the innocence of a newborn is emphasised by puuting it in white, whether clothing or mediaeval swaddles.
Great reads!
Hi! Thank you for commenting!
As far as your comment that white baby clothes were predominant longer than I suggest, I certainly didn’t mean for anything I said to be taken as a definitive word on the topic. My posts are more “Here’s an item and what I have been finding out about it,” or “I read this recently and it made me think…” I am no expert and while I try to do a little research, I am more likely to spend hours following different tracks entirely, then tell myself, “Come on, this is only a blog post! Get something down on the topic you planned, and move on!” 🙂
Thank you for adding the information!