The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-10-19
Color Helps
in Showing
Personality
Women Prefer Blue on
Selves, Gray on Men,
Says Expert.
BY MARY MARGARET MBRIDE
NEA Service STAFF Correspondent
NEW YORK.-Men like women

MA service stan Correspondent
NEW YORK-Men like women
best in red and second-best IN
an ugly. light-blue that. left TO
themselves, women never in the
world would wear. The male pre-
fers himself in dark clothes. but
women take to him most when he
dresses in gray.
These are the announcements Of
Henrietta Murdoch, famous colorist
who is paid fabulous sums for color
advice by manufacturers of every
thing from cereals to wall paint.
Miss Murdoch bases her conviction
on tests she has made upon thou
sands of men and women, some Of
whom knowingly served as her
guinea pigs. while others unwit-
tingly revealed color behavior that
was enlightening to her practiced
eye.
BLACK and white in dress is So
phisticated, but not necessarily DID,"
says Miss Murdoch. However, black
worn alone adds years to anybody'S
age. And if you think black makes
you look smaller in a bright light,
you've forgotten about the jungle'S
lessons in protective coloring A
mans character is shown in the
shape of his hat. The tie he I'M
consciously chooses for any given
day reflects what his mood was
when he got up that morning. Also,
there is a shade of every color that
is becoming to every human being"
Student of Color for Many Years
Miss Murdoch has been studying
color and design since she was a
girl of IA in West Virginia. Her
experiments began when her sis
ter married, moved to Japan and
sent back prints. The young Hen
rietta was enchanted with hueS
such as she never had seen before
and all alone and unaided began
to work with fabrics and color. She
even made some of her own dyes.
She hadn't known before what she
wanted to be but from then on she
cared only about color Later, she
spent years in the Orient studying.
Anybody can teach herself to
know color and thus add to her
| JOY in life about 100 per cent, as
we'll as keep herself from looking
drab," Miss Murdoch declares. While
her instructions to this end seem
simple, the coloriSt maintains they
are adequate.
"All you need do" she counsels,
SIS to look at the color around you,
indoors and out, with seeing eyes.
Think about it as you go about your
housework. Constantly create pic
! turesque color effects Notice the
harmony of yellow egg in blue
bowl, and a red tomato on a green
| plate. Set white flower in a blue
vase on dark wood table and study
| the effect. Learn to name colorS ac-
curately-to see the difference be-
tween lettuce-green and grass green.
Blue Varies Much
/ ''Memorize a tone and carry il
n your mind as you would mel
ody. can do this with any color
except blue. The reason 1 can't do it
with blue is because that particular
color varies so with humidity"
Some very simple people, accord
ing to Miss Murdoch have perfect
color sense-the mountaineers Of
West Virginia. for instance-though
of course they don't know the
/ science back of it all.
Miss Murdcck's own complex task
is causing color to behave in such
a way that everyday articles will
become more useful and enjoyable
for human use. She also is able to
make people more attractive by Civ
ing them color personality readings.
Men and women nearly all
through life differ in their color
tastes, Miss Murdoch points out.
| Until they are six, they agree in
liking red. From six to twelve girls
like coral pink and orange, and boys
bright blue. In their teens bows turn
to drab grays and browns. and girls
stick to orange, peacock blue and
pink. Boys past twenty like pastels
but women do not care for those
until they are thirty or more.
Around fifty comes the appreciation
Of orchid and violet tones and then
the color sense begins to decline so
that the man of 30 again likes a
bright red tie.