Alice blue, also known as Alice Blue, is a pale tint of blue, that was famous for being a favorite color of Alice Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of Theodore Roosevelt. First used in 1905, the color was popular throughout the early 20th century and went on to inspire the song "Alice Blue Gown" from the musical Irene.[2][3]
Frequently shown in advertisements[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] throughout the continent, Alice blue was a popular color choice for fashionable textiles and attire.[12] The color name was common enough to be used without glossing in professional journals.[13][14][15]
Description of Color
Most descriptions of the color agree that it is a pale blue with a greyish tinge.[16][17]Merriam-Webster defines it as "a pale blue to grayish blue that is redder and stronger than forget-me-not".[18]
However according to a 1933 article, at the time, "almost any blue that was not 'baby blue' or 'periwinkle' was 'Alice blue.' "[17]
In 1987 'AliceBlue' was selected as on of the X11 color names and defined as #F0F8FF.
Release in 1919, the Broadway musical Irene was incredible popular running for 670 performances, setting a record which it held for 18 years.[2] It "established the pattern of the "Cinderella musical" that dominated musical comedy in the 1920s".[20] The hit song of the musical was "Alice Blue Gown" in which the heroine, played by Edith Day, sings about her beloved blue gown.
The song experienced a resurgence in the early 1940s through recordings by Frankie Masters, Ozzie Nelson, and Glenn Miller. In 1940, Hollywood released a film adaptation of Irene starring Anna Neagle and the musical was later revived on Broadway in 1973, featuring Debbie Reynolds in the lead role. Variety included 'Alice Blue Gown' in its Hit Parade of a Half-Century as the representative song for 1919.[2]
By 1928, burlesque performers began adapting Tin Pan Alley songs such as 'Alice Blue Gown' into jazz- and blues-influenced routines with provocative elements. In these performances, the 'Alice blue gown' often served as a literal costume element that could be removed as part of the act.[21]
Uses
The color is specified by the United States Navy for use in insignia and trim on the USS Theodore Roosevelt.[22] "AliceBlue" is also one of the original 1987 X11 color names which became the basis for color description in web authoring.
↑ The Post Express, February 15, 1912. Sibley, London & Curr Co. Advertisement. "Here are February Ribbons." Lists one of the colour options as "Alice Blue"
↑ The Post Express, April 6, 1909. Sibley, London & Curr Co. Advertisement. "Easter Ribbons Are Ready." Lists one of the colour options as "Alice Blue" and in later occasions as "Alice".
↑ De Vitis, M., & Carter, D. J. (2023). The law and the limits of the dressed body: masking regulation and the 1918–19 influenza pandemic in Australia. In C. F. Stychin (Ed.), Law, Humanities and the COVID Crisis (pp. 75–108). University of London Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv36tpjjf.10 "For instance, the Newcastle Morning Herald (1919) reported: ‘Society dames are having influenza masks made to match their gowns, and in some cases their eyes. All sorts of tints are being selected, but the favourite fancies are Rose du Barri pink and Alice blue.’"
↑ The Boston American, "Are Blackboards a Menace to the Youth?". The Journal of Education. 69 (24 (1734)): 667–668. 1909. ISSN0022-0574. "[...] and that his morals thrived on black as readily as present-day virtue waxes on pink or violet or Alice blue."
↑ Oberholser, Harry C. “The Geographic Races of Cyanocitta Cristata.” The Auk, vol. 38, no. 1, 1921, pp. 83–89. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/4074029. Accessed 14 July 2025. Describing the Northern Blue Jay: "[...] the outer edges of the primaries deep Alice blue, [...]"
1 2 St. Joseph Gazette, February 12, 1933. "'Eleanor Blue' to Be Worn by Mrs. Roosevelt March 4" "adding a new pastel shade to the array of hues famed there." "Eleanor Blue and Alice blue, each with its hint of gray, [...]""[...] the country took it up by degrees, and called it 'Alice blue', and even wrote songs about it. Almost any blue that was not 'baby blue' or 'periwinkle' was 'Alice blue.' It caught the fancy of the country so much that it was carried on for other presidents' daughters. There was 'Helen Pink,' named for Miss Taft, and 'Nell rose," named for Miss Wilson [...]"
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