BEIGE encyclopedia topics

Beige and Zinnwaldite

In the 1960s, the American telecommunications company AT&T marketed a telephone for offices and homes in a color they called "beige" which was actually the color zinnwaldite.

Beige and Ecru

Originally in the 19th century and up to at least 1930, the color ecru meant exactly the same color as beige or pale cream color , and the word is often used to refer to such fabrics as silk and linen in their unbleached state. Ecru comes from the French word écru, which means literally 'raw' or 'unbleached'. Now in the 21st century, however, ecru is considered a different color from beige.

French beige

At right is displayed the color French beige.

It is perhaps the existence of this color that led people to believe that beige is a light brown color instead of the pale cream shown in the color box at the beginning of this article. The first recorded use of French beige as a color name in English was in 1927.

The source of this color is the following website: ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (1955)--Color Sample of French beige (color sample #57)

Colors in the beige range

Related color names used for colors in the beige range include cream, buff, zinnwaldite, ecru, tan, and Khaki.

Beige in human culture

Business

The Beige Book, more formally called the Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions, is a report published by the Federal Reserve Board eight times a year. Each report is a gathering of "anecdotal information on current economic conditions" by each Federal Reserve Bank in its district.

Computers

Beige shades have so often been used for personal computer cases and peripherals like mice and monitors that the term beige box has come to mean an ordinary, run-of-the-mill, generic, unremarkable personal computer, and by extension anything which is generic or run-of-the-mill.

Ethnography

The skin color of some Caucasians is described more accurately as beige or peach.

Fashion

Beige is a common color of cargo pants (the second most popular after khaki), and is the most popular shade of pantyhose (tights in the UK).

Film

Beige has also appeared as the lead character of a filmic serial story by Peninsula SUFM published in installments throughout July and August 2007. It was named the Serial Drama Movie and involved characters such as Red, Blue and Yellow, who were too cool for Beige, and made him feel ostracized.