By Heather Svokos and Liz Stevens
McCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
Poor, poor pitiful pink.
So fun, so breezy, so chipper, so loving. Yet as far as Valentine's Day goes, pink has been relegated to the second tier in the Crayola box. It always seems to be limping along behind Big Red, struggling to catch up, clutching its wilted carnation.
But not this year. We're not going to let that happen. We're going to celebrate our rosy little underdog until it's vaulted into a lead role in the world of romance. We want red to pale in comparison.
This is our valentine to the color pink.
ETYMOLOGY
Before the color. The word "pink" probably wasn't used to describe a color until the 17th century, when it was used to describe the light red flowers of pinks, or plants in the genus Dianthus. The edges of their petals appeared to have been "pinked," or cut with pinking shears. Which leads us to the earlier definitions of pink: to stab lightly with a pointed weapon, or to prick; to decorate with a perforated pattern. From the Middle English pingen, pinken, which means to push or prick. Which ultimately goes back to the Latin: pungere.
Pinkie finger. This oddity may come from the Dutch pinkje, which is the diminutive of pink, or little finger.
In the pink. To be "in the pink" means to be "in the best of health," but the origin isn't what you'd think. It comes from the English tradition of fox hunting. The hunters' scarlet jackets are called pinks (not for the color, but after the name of the 18th-century British tailor - Thomas Pink - who made them.) So, people who were clad in the jackets were said to be in the pink ... or, according to Phrasefinder.com, "about to set off to gallop your horse across country."
TO THINE OWN CANDY HEART BE TRUE
Pink candy hearts. They come in all manner of pastel, but nothing beats the pink heart that says: Be Mine. Kiss Me. Sweet Talk. You know these Necco candies as Sweethearts Conversation Hearts. The concept dates back to the late 1800s (they were called "Motto Hearts" then), but the modern version started in the early 1900s. They weren't just heart-shaped, but cut in various forms, such as postcards, baseballs or horseshoes.
Back then, they had room for longer messages, such as: "Please send a lock of your hair by return mail," or "How long shall I have to wait? Pray be considerate." Necco manufactures 8 billion of the hearts each year, and says the Sweethearts are the No. 1-selling nonchocolate Valentine's Day candy.
POP CULTURE PINK
The Pink Panther. The original film, the cuckoo-cool cartoon cat, the eternally hip Henry Mancini theme - we love the whole pink schmear. The name comes from a fictional diamond whose flaw makes it look as though a panther springs from the gem's center. The feline himself became so popular after the debut of the original 1963 movie that he soon had his own Saturday morning cartoon show and, in 1980, would become the official mascot of insulation manufacturer Owens Corning. Since 2001, the panther has been hawking Sweet'N Low, too.
Pink. The big-voiced rocker (born Alecia Moore) snagged this nickname partly thanks to her flushed complexion. The moniker stuck when, one day at summer camp, a boy she liked pulled down her pants in front of the other kids, revealing her pink bottom, she told Australia's Sunday Telegraph Magazine.
Pink Floyd. The origin of the band name isn't as far-out hazy as you might think: It's taken from the first names of two bluesmen: Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. They also experimented with several other names, including Sigma 6, The Abdabs, The Screaming Abdabs and T-Set.
Pink Cadillac. The only car strong enough for a man (Bruce Springsteen song, Clint Eastwood movie), but made for a woman (Mary Kay-mobile).
Pink Ladies. What girl of the '70s did not want to be a Pink Lady? The attitude. The tough talk. The satin jackets. The Rizzo. A Pink Lady knew how to keep a T-Bird in line. Teen pregnancy scares aside, these broads from "Grease" had it all. And speaking of Rizzo, she leads us to our next icon. Remember when she threw the strawberry milkshake in Kenickie's face? "To you from me, Pinky Lee!"
Pinky Lee. He was born Pincus Leff, and became a vaudeville comic and host of his own children's television show in the early 1950s. According to Time magazine, during a live broadcast in 1955, Lee collapsed from exhaustion on live TV, which many children thought was part of his act. But he bounced back, and lived to be 85. He died in 1993.
FASHION
Pink for girls? Not always. In France, before the 17th and 18th centuries, pink was considered more of a boy's color. It's in the same family as red, which was known as a powerful, masculine color and a color of privilege - partly because the dye was more expensive, according to Margaret Miele, a color psychologist at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology. At that time, blue was considered daintier and more of a girl's color. A few things gradually started to change the tide, Miele said. Male children back then tended to be less likely to survive into adulthood, and some believed the spirits were taking their boy children. To try to trick the spirits into passing over their boys, parents would dress their boys in the more girlish blue. Over time, the blue-for-boys became standard. One other reason red (and pink) fell out of favor with men is that by the 18th century, female royalty began to adopt the color.
INGESTIBLE
Pink margarine. Believe it or not, margarine was once controversial. At the turn of the 20th century, the dairy industry was petrified that this new spread would cut into its, um, bread and butter. A couple of states even passed laws forcing margarine makers to dye their product an inedible-looking pink. But the Supreme Court wouldn't let that fly for too long.
Pink lemonade. Here's an urban myth that might make you avoid Hi-C for a while: The creation of pink lemonade is said to have occurred when a circus manager ran out of water for his lemonade stand. The only liquid he could find was a bucketful of water dyed pink by a pair of red tights that had been wrung out in it. The savvy entrepreneur simply added sugar and lemon slices to the water and promptly sold out of his new beverage. (This version of the popular anecdote comes from the book "Circus" by Linda Granfield.)
A more likely possibility is that the drink is a derivation of the sumac beverages American Indians made that were similar in taste and appearance to pink lemonade, according to the National Wildlife Federation.
UNDESIRABLES
Pinkeye. Also called conjunctivitis, it's an infection (viral or bacterial) of the eye. Gross. We don't love that.
Pepto-Bismol. Created in the early 20th century, Pepto-Bismol was colored pink by its inventor, probably because it was first intoduced as a formula that eased the symptoms of "cholera infantum," a deadly disease of infants. Today it eases the symptoms of "drunkus overnitus," which is why - despite its chalky, tongue-coating unsavoriness - we worship at its placid pink throne.
CULTURE
Pink ribbon. In 1991, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation followed the lead of AIDS activists who were pinning red ribbons on their lapels to raise awareness of the disease, and passed out pink ribbons to everyone running in its Race for the Cure that year in New York City. (The AIDS activists had borrowed the ribbon symbolism from those who had "tied a yellow ribbon" around their trees to support the hostages in Iran.)
The next year, Self magazine and the Estee Lauder company collaborated on a pink-ribbon campaign - after a failed attempt to join forces with a grassroots campaign for breast-cancer awareness that had been giving away peach ribbons.
Poor peach. It never had a chance.
Pink triangle. In the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, an inverted pink triangle was used to label homosexuals (much as the yellow Star of David was used to mark Jews). In the 1970s, activists appropriated the symbol, turning it right side up. By the onset of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, it had become a symbol of gay pride and liberation, according to ACT UP New York.
GEOGRAPHY AND ARCHITECTURE
Lac Rose. No, it's not industrial pollution. Lake Retba in Senegal is really pinkish-mauve, thanks to a combination of minerals and a particular micro-organism living there. Not much more than a shallow lagoon, "Lac Rose," located north of Dakar, is known for its salt deposits.
The Beverly Hills Hotel. In the beginning, the Beverly Hills Hotel was Beverly Hills. The city literally sprang up around it. Opened in 1912, the Sunset Boulevard landmark was painted pink in 1948.
The Argentine Presidential Palace. The color of this grand government building, nicknamed Casa Rosada, represents a gesture of political conciliation. In 1868, under President Domingo Sarmiento, the facade was painted pink to appease opposing political parties whose colors were red and white.
McCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
Poor, poor pitiful pink.
So fun, so breezy, so chipper, so loving. Yet as far as Valentine's Day goes, pink has been relegated to the second tier in the Crayola box. It always seems to be limping along behind Big Red, struggling to catch up, clutching its wilted carnation.
But not this year. We're not going to let that happen. We're going to celebrate our rosy little underdog until it's vaulted into a lead role in the world of romance. We want red to pale in comparison.
This is our valentine to the color pink.
ETYMOLOGY
Before the color. The word "pink" probably wasn't used to describe a color until the 17th century, when it was used to describe the light red flowers of pinks, or plants in the genus Dianthus. The edges of their petals appeared to have been "pinked," or cut with pinking shears. Which leads us to the earlier definitions of pink: to stab lightly with a pointed weapon, or to prick; to decorate with a perforated pattern. From the Middle English pingen, pinken, which means to push or prick. Which ultimately goes back to the Latin: pungere.
Pinkie finger. This oddity may come from the Dutch pinkje, which is the diminutive of pink, or little finger.
In the pink. To be "in the pink" means to be "in the best of health," but the origin isn't what you'd think. It comes from the English tradition of fox hunting. The hunters' scarlet jackets are called pinks (not for the color, but after the name of the 18th-century British tailor - Thomas Pink - who made them.) So, people who were clad in the jackets were said to be in the pink ... or, according to Phrasefinder.com, "about to set off to gallop your horse across country."
TO THINE OWN CANDY HEART BE TRUE
Pink candy hearts. They come in all manner of pastel, but nothing beats the pink heart that says: Be Mine. Kiss Me. Sweet Talk. You know these Necco candies as Sweethearts Conversation Hearts. The concept dates back to the late 1800s (they were called "Motto Hearts" then), but the modern version started in the early 1900s. They weren't just heart-shaped, but cut in various forms, such as postcards, baseballs or horseshoes.
Back then, they had room for longer messages, such as: "Please send a lock of your hair by return mail," or "How long shall I have to wait? Pray be considerate." Necco manufactures 8 billion of the hearts each year, and says the Sweethearts are the No. 1-selling nonchocolate Valentine's Day candy.
POP CULTURE PINK
The Pink Panther. The original film, the cuckoo-cool cartoon cat, the eternally hip Henry Mancini theme - we love the whole pink schmear. The name comes from a fictional diamond whose flaw makes it look as though a panther springs from the gem's center. The feline himself became so popular after the debut of the original 1963 movie that he soon had his own Saturday morning cartoon show and, in 1980, would become the official mascot of insulation manufacturer Owens Corning. Since 2001, the panther has been hawking Sweet'N Low, too.
Pink. The big-voiced rocker (born Alecia Moore) snagged this nickname partly thanks to her flushed complexion. The moniker stuck when, one day at summer camp, a boy she liked pulled down her pants in front of the other kids, revealing her pink bottom, she told Australia's Sunday Telegraph Magazine.
Pink Floyd. The origin of the band name isn't as far-out hazy as you might think: It's taken from the first names of two bluesmen: Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. They also experimented with several other names, including Sigma 6, The Abdabs, The Screaming Abdabs and T-Set.
Pink Cadillac. The only car strong enough for a man (Bruce Springsteen song, Clint Eastwood movie), but made for a woman (Mary Kay-mobile).
Pink Ladies. What girl of the '70s did not want to be a Pink Lady? The attitude. The tough talk. The satin jackets. The Rizzo. A Pink Lady knew how to keep a T-Bird in line. Teen pregnancy scares aside, these broads from "Grease" had it all. And speaking of Rizzo, she leads us to our next icon. Remember when she threw the strawberry milkshake in Kenickie's face? "To you from me, Pinky Lee!"
Pinky Lee. He was born Pincus Leff, and became a vaudeville comic and host of his own children's television show in the early 1950s. According to Time magazine, during a live broadcast in 1955, Lee collapsed from exhaustion on live TV, which many children thought was part of his act. But he bounced back, and lived to be 85. He died in 1993.
FASHION
Pink for girls? Not always. In France, before the 17th and 18th centuries, pink was considered more of a boy's color. It's in the same family as red, which was known as a powerful, masculine color and a color of privilege - partly because the dye was more expensive, according to Margaret Miele, a color psychologist at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology. At that time, blue was considered daintier and more of a girl's color. A few things gradually started to change the tide, Miele said. Male children back then tended to be less likely to survive into adulthood, and some believed the spirits were taking their boy children. To try to trick the spirits into passing over their boys, parents would dress their boys in the more girlish blue. Over time, the blue-for-boys became standard. One other reason red (and pink) fell out of favor with men is that by the 18th century, female royalty began to adopt the color.
INGESTIBLE
Pink margarine. Believe it or not, margarine was once controversial. At the turn of the 20th century, the dairy industry was petrified that this new spread would cut into its, um, bread and butter. A couple of states even passed laws forcing margarine makers to dye their product an inedible-looking pink. But the Supreme Court wouldn't let that fly for too long.
Pink lemonade. Here's an urban myth that might make you avoid Hi-C for a while: The creation of pink lemonade is said to have occurred when a circus manager ran out of water for his lemonade stand. The only liquid he could find was a bucketful of water dyed pink by a pair of red tights that had been wrung out in it. The savvy entrepreneur simply added sugar and lemon slices to the water and promptly sold out of his new beverage. (This version of the popular anecdote comes from the book "Circus" by Linda Granfield.)
A more likely possibility is that the drink is a derivation of the sumac beverages American Indians made that were similar in taste and appearance to pink lemonade, according to the National Wildlife Federation.
UNDESIRABLES
Pinkeye. Also called conjunctivitis, it's an infection (viral or bacterial) of the eye. Gross. We don't love that.
Pepto-Bismol. Created in the early 20th century, Pepto-Bismol was colored pink by its inventor, probably because it was first intoduced as a formula that eased the symptoms of "cholera infantum," a deadly disease of infants. Today it eases the symptoms of "drunkus overnitus," which is why - despite its chalky, tongue-coating unsavoriness - we worship at its placid pink throne.
CULTURE
Pink ribbon. In 1991, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation followed the lead of AIDS activists who were pinning red ribbons on their lapels to raise awareness of the disease, and passed out pink ribbons to everyone running in its Race for the Cure that year in New York City. (The AIDS activists had borrowed the ribbon symbolism from those who had "tied a yellow ribbon" around their trees to support the hostages in Iran.)
The next year, Self magazine and the Estee Lauder company collaborated on a pink-ribbon campaign - after a failed attempt to join forces with a grassroots campaign for breast-cancer awareness that had been giving away peach ribbons.
Poor peach. It never had a chance.
Pink triangle. In the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, an inverted pink triangle was used to label homosexuals (much as the yellow Star of David was used to mark Jews). In the 1970s, activists appropriated the symbol, turning it right side up. By the onset of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, it had become a symbol of gay pride and liberation, according to ACT UP New York.
GEOGRAPHY AND ARCHITECTURE
Lac Rose. No, it's not industrial pollution. Lake Retba in Senegal is really pinkish-mauve, thanks to a combination of minerals and a particular micro-organism living there. Not much more than a shallow lagoon, "Lac Rose," located north of Dakar, is known for its salt deposits.
The Beverly Hills Hotel. In the beginning, the Beverly Hills Hotel was Beverly Hills. The city literally sprang up around it. Opened in 1912, the Sunset Boulevard landmark was painted pink in 1948.
The Argentine Presidential Palace. The color of this grand government building, nicknamed Casa Rosada, represents a gesture of political conciliation. In 1868, under President Domingo Sarmiento, the facade was painted pink to appease opposing political parties whose colors were red and white.
