By Doug De Graffenried

Truth has always been true, right?

Let us ponder colors for infants. A truth regarding infants is that pink is the color for girls and blue is the color for boys. That has been true since WWII.

In the 19^th century, boys and girls were primarily clothed in white dresses. The color designation for children began appearing in the later part of 19^th century. The colors were opposite of what they are today.

In the early part of the 20^th century boys wore pink and girls wore blue. Baby books, new baby announcements and cards, gift lists, and newspaper articles from the early 1900s indicate that pink was just as likely to be associated with boy babies as with girl babies. For example, the June 1918 issue of the Infant’s Department, a trade magazine for baby clothes manufacturers, said: “There has been a great diversity of opinion on this subject, but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy; while blue, which is more delicate and daintier is prettier for the girl.” Blue is also the color most associated with the Virgin Mary, which helped cement the idea of blue for girls.

The reversal of this trend occurred in the late 1940’s. The catalyst for this reversal was drab army green which was a primary color of uniforms for the military. During WWII, women entered the work force in societal shifting numbers. During WWII, the ladies had a limited color pallet for their clothing options. It seemed to the baby clothing gurus that pink would be much more appropriate for girls now. Pink was viewed as a softer color and thus more appropriate for females. It would help soften the army’s green world created by the war effort. One must ask what happened to cause the color shift. In the early part of the century blue was dainty and pretty and by the mid-century pink became dainty and pretty.

Can truth be a moving target? What is true today might not be true tomorrow? Is truth changed by a study or by our assent to the results of the study? Take wine for instance. Is wine good for you or bad for you? It depends on which study you are reading. Each new study contradicts the previous study.

Here is a novel idea, why not trust your common sense? Humans thrived for thousands of years before the advent of “a scientific study.” Living joyously and freely is about using good common sense.

Living in a world in which the truth is stranger than it used to be is not easy, but there is hope. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth will make you free.” The truth He described was not about a construct, but about a person. Do you follow the One who spoke and lived truth? His truth is the only source of freedom.

It is true!