May is the month that the CAUS Committees convene to forecast – since we work 24 months in advance, we are living Spring/Summer 2014.  While we cannot divulge the outcomes of these meetings just yet, we thought it would be interesting to journey back 20 years to see what was forecasted for Spring/Summer 1994.

“The last word in cars is color” is the headline in an advertisement for Chatham Manufacturing Company, published in the 32nd edition of the American Fabrics magazine*, Spring 1955.

The ad reads, “The last word in cars is color… because it’s first in the consumer’s mind.  The public wants color and the automotive industry gives it to them.   In fact, manufacturers of fine cars now have their designers working with Chatham’s Design Department to produce beautiful color-coordinated styling, so that today’s cars are the most colorful ever made.  Over seventy-five years ago, long before Chatham became one of American’s great mills, the founder established a standard for his small family business that is still proudly maintained by the fourth generation of Chatham sons.  And family pride is a very good guarantee of quality. ”

When one hears “Tiffany colors” your mind might first envision the world famous little blue box in its trademarked iconic robin-egg blue. But today we want to talk about the other Tiffany – Louis C. Tiffany, also known for his iconic colors in glass.  

“At the turn of the twentieth century, there was a considerable revolution in the arts which came to be known as Art Nouveau.  The style, characterized by an asymmetrically undulating line, has bequeathed to us a wealth of artifacts in the decorative arts.  Entrancingly beautiful, the opalescent glass of Louis C. Tiffany is a superb record of the entirely different range of unconventional colors popular during this period.

England’s Josiah Wedgwood founded a family of potters and a palette of colors that have made his name a household word.  Wedgwood, known as the ‘father of English potters, invented and produced what remains today three of Wedgwood’s most famous ceramic bodies - Queen’s Ware (1762), Black Basalt (1768) and, finally, Jasper (1774).

April 10, 1982, CASEY KASEM’S AMERICAN TOP 40

#1   I LOVE ROCK AND ROLL
       Joan Jett & The Blackheats

#2   WE GOT THE BEAT
       The Go-Go’s

The advent of autumn brings many things:  fabulous fall foliage, evenings around a warm fire, the crispness of apples in season, the anticipation (or, in some cases dread!) of the holiday season around the corner, new clothes and back-to-school, and thoughts of seasons past.

In the early to mid-1980’s, flashy colors dominated the home and workplace.  It was a time of prosperity for many, with an ostentatious, opulent, and showy style seen in both fashion and interior home. Who could forget the infamous “Nancy Reagan Red”?  These were the days of “too much is never enough”.

If you have studied color, or are interested in color you probably know the name Faber Birren.  Birren, who died at the age of 88, was a color expert of world renown; his obituary, published in The New York Times on December 31, 1988, features the simple heading, “Faber Birren, 88, Expert on Color”.  

While diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, we at The Color Association arelusting after gemstones; sapphires, tourmalines, topaz, and the other colored stones that are featured in designer Matthew Campbell Laurenza’s latest line. While many jewelry designers are proficient at using colored gems in their designs (the ubiquitous David Yurman, for one), we’ve not seen an explosion of color quite like that found in MCL’s designs.

In the United States in 1930, President Herbert Hoover declared, “Prosperity is just around the corner”, stating that the worst effects of the Great Depression would be over in 90 days.  Little did he know that it would continue on until 1941, reaching its height in 1933, when unemployment peaked at 25% and wages for those fortunate enough to be employed cut by 42%.