The color violet

Here are a few more interesting, whimsical facts about the color violet:

• For centuries, violet was one of the most highly valued colors. The pigment was extracted from the secretion of sea snails in a complicated procedure – it is said that around 10,000 sea snails were required to manufacture just one gram of purple. It is no wonder that wearing violet fabrics was a privilege long reserved for the powerful and rich.
  
  
• Starting in the late 19th century, the women’s rights movement helped to democratize the color violet. In England, women’s rights activists marched through the streets wearing purple sashes, demanding voting rights for women. In the women’s movement of the 1970s, purple overalls became a heavily symbolic item of clothing.
  
  
• Purple asparagus is white asparagus whose tips have been dyed by sunlight. What is good about it is that the dying process protects the asparagus against harmful UV radiation. It contains high levels of antioxidants – which make it especially healthy.
  
  
• “The Color Purple” is a famous novel by the author Alice Walker. It received both the American Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize – and was adapted for film by Steven Spielberg in 1985. In this literary classic, the color purple is a symbol of the will to fight and the courage of the female protagonist – who is played by Whoopi Goldberg in the film.
  
  
• In 2004, the color purple even made it to court: The German Federal Court of Justice decided that Milka was the only chocolate manufacturer allowed to package its chocolate in purple wrapping.
  
  
• In 1984, the song “Purple Rain” helped put the pop musician Prince on the map. What many people don’t know is that Prince also played the main character in the film musical of the same name.