Color Association of the United States

The Color Association of the United States was organized on February 19, 1915 as the Textile Color Card Association of the United States for the purpose of standardizing colors for the textile trade in the United States. It assumed its current name on December 1, 1955.

The formation of the Color Association was a result of the inability of America's textile industry to obtain fashion information and dyestuffs from Europe because of World War I. The Association, a non-profit organization, assumed the obligation of standardizing a list of staple colors to promote color coordination among the trades. The Association began standardizing colors for the U.S. government, the U.S. Armed Forces, and state governments and colleges in the 1920s. After World War II the Association began standardizing colors for industries outside the textile trade, such as the plastics industry, automobiles, home appliances, and motion pictures, radio, and television, and the paint industry.

The Association issues two types of color forecasting publications. The seasonal color card provides a color-forecasting service to the textile manufacturers to coordinate color selection for the seasonal fashion market. The STANDARD COLOR REFERENCE OF AMERICA presents colors for which there is a popular and continuing demand. This publication is in its tenth edition and includes cloth samples of over two hundred colors. A few of the standard colors are Old Glory Red and National Flag Blue for the U.S. flag, and Armed Forces colors Khaki and West Point Grey.

From the description of Records, 1915-1983. (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122355351