How & When did the color blue become the default for jeans?

Denim cloth

Denim was produced in Nimes, France in the late 1800s.  In fact it is hard to determine when they started making it; perhaps as early as the mid-1600s?  The cloth is properly called Serge.  The Blue Serge from Nimes was called "Serge de Nimes" (pronounced SERJ de NEEM) but when it was imported into the States the anglicized pronunciation was Denim.

The real answer for "why blue" comes from the introduction of bulk Indigo dye to Europe.  The default blue colour is from the dye called Indican.  Prior to the importation of Indigo, woad leaves were the only source of blue dye in Europe and North America.  Woad gives a fainter blue and you need at least 2x the amount compared to indigo.  Then, suddenly, both cheap cotton and cheap Indigo were imported to Nimes via sea routes from India.

Indigo was imported in its processed form as a pure dye.  It looked like rock crystals and for many years people didn't even know it came from a plant.  It was listed as a "mineral".  Woad dye was supplied as rolled-up balls of composted woad leaves.  Indigo was extremely cheap, compared to woad, gave a better and darker blue, and when it hit Europe it put the entire woad industry out of business within a generation.   People who could not formerly afford blue clothes now luxuriated in the”colour of nobility".

I'm always intrigued by the trade routes implied by this simple statement.   Cotton and indigo from India.  Imported to Nimes, France.  Made into  cloth.  Imported to Italy.  Made into trousers by a Bavarian.  Imported  to the US east coast.  Shipped out west to miners and cowboys. 

Cotton serge (aka drill or twill) does not have to be blue.  It starts out white or cotton coloured.  When it is dyed beige or grey it's called Khaki. 

Khaki is dyed after the cloth is woven, but Denim is thread-dyed before weaving.  And only half the threads are dyed blue; the rest are white to save on the cost of the indigo, making this cloth a handsome blue while remaining eco

Is Facebook Crushing Email ?

In the corner of my office sits a dull dedicated technology device called a “Fax Machine”, its real name is in fact “Facsimile”. It’s presence is tolerated in case we need to communicate when Facebook fails, the SMS feature on my phone implodes or the email goes down. 

It occasionally does make whirring noises and prints off a page from a marketing company or business that hasn’t heard of email or the internet.

I am sure that if I asked my teenage children what a fax machine was I would get a quizzical look with a raised eyebrow. They were popular in the mid 1980′s and were a “must have” for every office and even came with the amazing ability to print in color. Marketers were quick to use them to bypass snail mail with calls to action and produce leads for sales teams.

Email replaced fax machines as the Internet became ubiquitous. It is still the prime communication tool for companies and Chief Marketing Officers have email marketing right at the top of their list for effective and efficient marketing. According to a Study by the Centre For Media Research CMO’s had email marketing at the top of the list in their plans for 2010.

But there is a trend emerging that should give people pause for thought to not sit on their laurels but continue to evolve their messaging habits and marketing tactics as the way we communicate continues to morph .

The Comscore  report "The 20120 Digital Year In Review" reveals that email is in decline for every age group category except  those over 55 and email usage by12-17 year olds is down by 59%.

   Zuckerberg announced a "Modern New Messaging System" that would address emerging trends in communication announcing “High school kids don’t use email, they use SMS a lot. People want lighter weight things like SMS and IM to message each other.” A comment I read on a blog recently by a university student reflects the winds of change” I’ve never sent a proper email in my life, email is too formal”

So when we are looking at how we communicate we really need to think about what our audience’s preferred channel for receiving and sending messages is and consider messaging with Twitter, Facebook or even YouTube. There is now more than one way to get your message out you just need to find the right selection of communication channels for your markets.

Don’t expect email to disappear as my 1980′s generation fax machine device still has a place in my office it’s just that it is not as relevant as it used to be.

Email is not going away any time soon but things “are a changing”

What do you think?… is your communication relevant?