Bright modernity : color, commerce, and consumer culture

286 Pages·2017·22.056 MB·English

by  Blaszczyk, Regina Lee, Spiekermann, Uwe

Worlds of Consumption
Series Editors
Hartmut Berghoff
Institute for Economic & Social History
University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Uwe Spiekermann
Institute for Economic & Social History
University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Published in association with the German Historical Institute, Washington,
DC. This series brings together historical research on consumption and con-
sumerism in the modern era, especially the twentieth century, and with a
particular focus on comparative and transnational studies. It aims to make
research available in English from an increasingly internationalized and inter-
disciplinaryfield.The historyof consumptionoffers avitallink amongdiverse
fields of history and other social sciences, because modern societies are con-
sumer societies whose political, cultural, social, and economic structures and
practices are bound up with the history of consumption. Worlds of
Consumption highlights and explores these linkages, which deserve wide
attention becausethey shapewho weareasindividuals andsocieties.
More information aboutthisseries at
http://www.springer.com/series/14382
ReginaLeeBlaszczyk(cid:129)UweSpiekermann
Editors
Bright Modernity
Color, Commerce, and Consumer Culture
Editors
ReginaLeeBlaszczyk UweSpiekermann
SchoolofHistory InstituteforEconomic&SocialHistory
UniversityofLeeds UniversityofGöttingen
Leeds,UnitedKingdom Göttingen,Germany
WorldsofConsumption
ISBN978-3-319-50744-6 ISBN978-3-319-50745-3(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-50745-3
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017940258
©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s)2017
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsaresolelyandexclusivelylicensedbythePublisher,
whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation,
reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any
otherphysicalway,andtransmissionorinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,
computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexempt
fromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthis
bookarebelievedtobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublishernorthe
authorsortheeditorsgiveawarranty,expressorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontained
hereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade.Thepublisherremainsneutralwith
regardtojurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations.
Cover illustration: Shade card for spring 1901, J. B. Chambeyron fils, St. Etienne and
Lyon, France, Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, DE, accession 2188: Papers of the
Inter-SocietyColorCouncil,item118.CourtesyofHagleyMuseumandLibrary.
Printedonacid-freepaper
ThisPalgraveMacmillanimprintispublishedbySpringerNature
TheregisteredcompanyisSpringerInternationalPublishingAG
Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland
C
ONTENTS
1 BrightModernity:Color, Commerce, andConsumer Culture 1
ReginaLeeBlaszczyk andUweSpiekermann
PartI Foundations:Industry and Education
2 Coloringthe World: MarketingGermanDyestuffs inthe Late
Nineteenthand EarlyTwentiethCenturies 37
AlexanderEngel
3 LearningtoSee withMiltonBradley 55
NicholasGaskill
PartII GenderandColor
4 “Real MenWear Pink”? AGenderHistory of Color 77
Dominique Grisard
5 NewWords andFanciful Names:Dyes, Color,andFashion
in theMid-Nineteenth Century 97
CharlotteNicklas
6 Let’sGo ColorShopping withCharlesSanders Peirce:Color
Scientists asConsumersof Color 113
MichaelRossi
v
vi CONTENTS
PartIII Ringmasters tothe Rainbow:Color Inventions
and VisualCulture
7 MoviesMeet the Rainbow 133
JoyceBedi
8 GlamourPink: The Marketingof Residential Electric
Lighting inthe Age ofColor, 1920s–1950s 149
Margaret MailePetty
9 Life inColor: Life Magazine andthe ColorReproduction
of Worksof Art 167
Melissa Renn
PartIV Predicting the Rainbow
10 The ColorSchemers: American Color Practicein Britain,
1920s–1960s 191
ReginaLeeBlaszczyk
11 Modeurop:UsingColor toUnify theEuropean Shoe
andLeather Industry 227
Ingrid Giertz-Mårtenson
12 Who Decidesthe Color ofthe Season? How aTrade Show
CalledPremièreVision ChangedFashionCulture 251
MaryLisa Gavenas
Index 271
L C
IST OF ONTRIBUTORS
Joyce Bedi Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, Smithsonian
Institution,Washington,DC,USA
ReginaLeeBlaszczyk SchoolofHistory,UniversityofLeeds,Leeds,UnitedKingdom
AlexanderEngel InstituteforEconomicandSocialHistory,UniversityofGöttingen,
Germany
MaryLisaGavenas Journalistandindependentscholar,NewYork,NY,USA
Nicholas Gaskill Department of English, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ,
USA
IngridGiertz-Mårtenson CentreforBusinessHistory,Stockholm,Sweden
DominiqueGrisard CenterforGenderStudies,UniversityofBasel,Switzerland
Charlotte Nicklas College of Arts and Humanities, University of Brighton,
UnitedKingdom
Margaret Maile Petty School of Design, Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland
UniversityofTechnology,Brisbane,Queensland,Australia
MelissaRenn HarvardBusinessSchool,Boston,MA,USA
MichaelRossi DepartmentofHistory,TheUniversityofChicago,Chicago,IL,USA
UweSpiekermann InstituteforEconomic&SocialHistory,UniversityofGöttingen,
Göttingen,Germany
vii
L F
IST OF IGURES
Fig.1.1 Magazineadvertisement,1913,forDiamondDyes,madeby
Wells&RichardsonCo.,Burlington,Vermont 4
Fig.1.2 AdvertisementinFranceforDUCOautomobilelacquer,1927 6
Fig.1.3 AdvertisementforWhiteMountainRefrigerators“incolorsto
matchthemodernkitchen,”1927 8
Fig.1.4 NufashondGartersadvertisement,1925 9
Fig.1.5 Cartoonfrom1885criticizingthecolorfulbutunhealthy,even
dangerous,substancesinacandystore’swares 24
Fig.2.1 MarketsharesofdyesinGermanyintermsoftheirmonetary
value,ca.1872–1912 41
Fig.2.2 MarketsharesofdyesinGermanyintermsofthequantityof
textilesdyed,ca.1872–1912 41
Fig.2.3 Averagecostofdyestuffstocolorametrictonoftextilesin
Germany,ca.1872–1912(marks,logarithmicscale) 42
Fig.2.4 Growthinthenumberofdyestuffs,1820–1930 43
Fig.3.1 ColorchartsbasedonaselectionofMiltonBradley’scolored
papers(“pure”and“broken”spectrums) 60
Fig.3.2 TheMiltonBradleycolorwheel,whichteachersandstudentsused
tomixcolors 63
Fig.3.3 Colordisks,whichwereplacedonthecolorwheelandspun
duringclassroomexercisesinmixingandanalyzingcolors 64
Fig.3.4 StudentstakingtheBradleycolorcoursepracticedcolorharmo-
niesandcontrastsbycreatingchromaticpatternsinpaperand
parquetrybasedontheseforms 69
Fig.4.1 Oneartist’srenderingoftransnationalpinkgirlculture:ThePink
Project—TessandHerPinkandPurpleThings,Lightjetprint,
2006,byJeongMeeYoon 78
Fig.4.2 Exampleofmasculinebourgeoisfashionattheturnofthe
century—thedarksuit 81
Fig.4.3 Exampleofaboyinpinkintheearlynineteenthcentury:Young
BoywithWhip,anonymous,AmericanSchool,ca.1840,oilon
canvas 85
ix
x LISTOFFIGURES
Fig.4.4 MamieEisenhowerinherfavoritecolor,oiloncanvasbyThomas
EdgarStevens,1959 86
Fig.4.5 Counteringfeminizedpinkconsumerculture:“Thereismore
thanonewaytobeagirl...” 89
Fig.5.1 Page(detail)fromnotebookkeptbycoloristatJohnWilkinson
andCo 103
Fig.5.2 Fashionplatefrom1864showingthePattiDress 104
Fig.6.1 Helmholtz’sdiagramindicatingtheresponsivenessofdifferent
nerve“fibrils”intheretinatored(1),green(2),andblue(3)light 120
Fig.6.2 Illustrationdepictingthedesignandarrangementofcolored-
paperdisksformeasuringcolorsensation 122
Fig.6.3 Rood’sternarydiagramdepictingtherelativepositionsofcolor
mixturesbasedonred,green,andblueprimaries 123
Fig.7.1 TherailroadcarthathousedthefirstTechnicolorlab 135
Fig.7.2 ArrangementofopticalsystemandfilmsinJ.ArthurBall’sthree-
colorcamera 138
Fig.7.3 Technicolorcameraencasedinasound-dampeningblimp,usedin
thefilmingofTheWizardofOz 139
Fig.8.1 Genderedbefore-and-afterillustrationsofthenewlightingpossi-
bilitiespromotedinpopularandtrademedia 156
Fig.8.2 SamplepagesfromG.E.promotionalmaterialsfeaturinglighting
recommendationsforwomen’sandmen’sgroomingrituals 157
Fig.8.3 AdvertisementforColoramiclightbulbsbyGeneralElectric,
1957 160
Fig.10.1 SeasonalcolorforecastbyMargaretHaydenRorkeforU.S.
woolenmills,oneofmanybranchesoftheAmericanfashiontrade
forwhichsheconsulted 195
Fig.10.2 ColorcardfromRorke’sfall1926woolensforecast 196
Fig.10.3 MagazineadvertisementforNashautomobiles,1933,proudly
showingthecompany’sbrightlylit,varicoloredcontributionto
theCenturyofProgressInternationalExhibitioninChicago,the
world’sfairwhosecoloringFaberBirrenfoundsogarishandin
needofordering 200
Fig.10.4 SeasonalcolorforecastbytheBritishColorCouncil,whichemu-
latedtheTextileColorCardAssociation’spractice 206
Fig.10.5 Dressingamanfromheadtotoe 207
Fig.11.1 NordicFashionCouncil,FashionForecastforShoesandLeather,
Fall1954(frontcover) 233
Fig.11.2 Modeuropcolorcard,Spring/Summer,1979 238