We’re excited to launch The Purple Store’s Purple Blog! In the honor of “firsts” (as this is our first post) we’d like to share a few of our favorite purple firsts.
The First Purple Dye
Haustellum Brandaris, used to make ancient purple dye. Image: M.Violante
The ancient Phoenicains produced Tyrian Purple, a vibrant reddish-purple, from thousands of shellfish. According to ancient documents the color was prized both for its unusual and beautiful hue and because instead of fading with time, the color deepened and improved with age.
Due to its expense and rarity, Phoenicains reserved Tyrian Purple to color imperial silks. It took over 12,000 snails to get enough dye to color the hem of a single piece of clothing! They used a complicated process and it wasn’t until 1998 that that process was recreated successfully. Tyrian purple was of the few shades of purple available at the time, but fortunately today we have all kinds of purple shades from lilac to lavender to plum to eggplant to royal purple.
The First Purple Crayon
Violet Purple crayons remain a favorite. Image: Shane Gibbons
Ah, Crayola Crayons – what’s not to love? A worldwide symbol of colorful childhood creativity, these iconic waxy instruments have gone through many changes over the years. Fortunately, the smart folks at Crayola included a purple crayon in the very first box of 8 crayons that was sold in 1903 so we’ve had purple crayons for as long as we’ve had crayons.
This shade, called “Violet (Purple)” has been produced for over 100 years and remains a favorite. While there are a few other shades of purple crayons available (our favorites include Royal Purple, Purple Heart, and Vivid Violet), there’s something to be said for going back to the classics.
The Purple Store
The Purple Store’s Seattle Showroom!
The Purple Store was founded in 2004 and has been bringing purple to the world ever since! In 2011 we opened our new showroom in Seattle and can now meet our wonderful customers in person as well as online. We’re pretty positive we have the very best customers in the whole world, and to top it off, they’re purple people! While we’ve been connecting with you all for a while now on Facebook, Twitter, and Pintrest, we’re excited at the chance to share with you in this purple blog. Find our address and store hours here!
Purple Firsts Sale
Our favorite purple motto.
Tell us!
Do you know any facts about purple firsts? We’d love to learn from you. Tell us in the comments below and, as always, stay purple!
here is a product that does not seem to exist in purpkle