Colored or Color Paper?

In my many dealings with the museum and the activities therein, I run into a few things that are pet peeves. These items are not worthy of mention but what is the very point of blogging other than to moan about the mundane.

I am often asked to run 350 copies of flyers or forms for the local Waynesburg Chamber of Commerce’s Monthly newsletter.  The issue is that when it is requested, I am asked for it to be on “colored” paper. When I hear the term “colored” paper all sorts of things come to mind. Do they want colored paper, as in with a crayon or marker? Do they want a myriad of colors, to which a borderline racially biased term is appropriate? Of course they mean plain old color copier paper.  But what is the right term for it? If you do a Google search, you get the same results for both “Colored” and “Color” copier paper.  So to explore the matter further, I investigated each term in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Colored

Adjective:

having a color or colors, especially as opposed to being black, white, or neutral:

“Brightly colored birds are easier to see.”

[in combination]:

“A peach-colored sofa”

imbued with an emotive or exaggerated quality:

highly colored examples were used by both sides

 (also Colored) dated or offensive wholly or partly of non-white descent.

South African used as an ethnic label for people of mixed ethnic origin, including Khoisan, African, Malay, Chinese, and white:

“There was a drive to recruit colored, black, and Indian members”

Noun:

 (also Colored) dated or offensive a person who is wholly or partly of non-white descent.

South African a person of mixed descent usually speaking Afrikaans or English as their mother tongue:

“The ANC was not making much progress among Indians or mixed-race coloreds”

 (coloreds) clothes, sheets, etc. that are any color but white:

“She wouldn’t mix her whites with her coloreds on washday”

Historical Note:

Colored referring to skin color is first recorded in the early 17th century and was adopted in the US by emancipated slaves as a term of racial pride after the end of the American Civil War. In Britain it was the accepted term until the 1960s, when it was superseded (as in the US) by black. The term colored lost favor among black people during this period and is now widely regarded as offensive except in historical contexts. In South Africa the term colored (also written Colored) has a different history. It is used to refer to people of mixed-race parentage rather than, as elsewhere, to refer to African peoples and their descendants (i.e. as a synonym for black). Under apartheid it was imposed as an official racial designation. However, in modern use the term is not generally considered offensive or derogatory.

               

Color

noun

[mass noun] the property possessed by an object of producing different sensations on the eye as a result of the way it reflects or emits light: the lights flickered      and  changed color

[count noun] one, or any mixture, of the constituents into which light can be separated in a spectrum or rainbow, sometimes including (loosely) black and white: a rich brown color a range of bright colors

the use of all colors, not only black and white, in photography or television: he has shot the whole film in color [as modifier]: color television

rosiness or redness of the face as an indication of health or of embarrassment, anger, etc.: there was some color back in his face, color flooded her skin as she realized what he meant

a substance used to give something a particular color: lip color

[count noun] Heraldry any of the major conventional colors used in coats of arms (gules, vert, sable, azure, purpure), especially as opposed to the metals, furs, and stains.

[count noun] Snooker any of the balls other than the white cue ball and the reds: Hendry potted the last four colors to win 5-4

                                        [mass noun] pigmentation of the skin, especially as an indication of someone’s race: discrimination on the basis of color

                                        [mass noun] vivid appearance resulting from the juxtaposition of many bright things: for color, plant groups of winter-flowering pansies

features that lend a particularly interesting quality to something: a town full of color and character

variety of musical tone or expression: orchestral color

verb

                                        [with object] change the color of (something) by painting, dyeing, or shading it: he colored her hair with a selection of blonde and brown shades

[no object] take on a different color: the foliage will not color well if the soil is too rich

fill (a shape or outline) with color: he hated finger-painting and coloring in pictures

make vivid or picturesque: he has colored the dance with gestures from cabaret and vaudeville

                                        [no object] (of a person or their skin) show embarrassment or shame by becoming red; blush: she colored slightly

[with object] cause (a person’s skin) to change in color: rage colored his pale complexion

[with object] (of an emotion) imbue (a person’s voice) with a particular tone: surprise colored her voice

 [with object] influence, especially in a negative way; distort: the experiences had colored her whole existence

misrepresent by distortion or exaggeration: witnesses might color evidence to make a story saleable

Okay so which term best describes what kind of paper they are requesting? Apparently they are both right to a certain extent.  Color paper is a direct noun and a proper noun to boot, where “colored” can be an adjective or noun but one so maligned by its racial context that it is best to avoided. So, I will let my pet peeve not be a grammatically based one but one that is avoiding any negative contextual matters.  Mea Culpa, English language, Mea Culpa!

Macgyver's Guide to Archiving Part I: Photographs

Like many other museums, the GCHS Museum gets inundated with countless catalogs from Gaylord, Demco, Brodart,  etc. While larger museums and historical sites can afford to dish out a healthy chunk of change for these state of the art archival materials, however, we at the museum cannot so we have found several innovative and creative ideas to preserve our collections and keep our spending down. 


Our head intern  has been working on an archival project where in she is scanning, documenting and disassembling photo albums and boxes of old pictures at the museum. After using all of the archival 6 pocket pages her project was at a standstill. Until, I remembered that the Mylar sheets for sports cards were similar to those that Gaylord, Demco and Brodart sells. All of the items feature top-loading, heavyweight pages that hold three 4" x 6" items  each. The polypropylene pages are PVC- and acid-free and feature UV protection and strong welds. So, let's break it down to numbers (makes it easier to see how funky it can be, yo!):

For a 100 pack of Mylar Album Pages that hold Six 4 x 6 Prints: 

 Gaylord:  $59.90 (priced at $29.95 per 50 sheets)
 Demco: $59.98 (priced at $29.99 per 50 sheets)
 Brodart: $43.96 (their price is $10.99 per 25 sheets)
 Amazon.com : $11.30 ( a box of 100 sheets)

Though the costs of multiple purchase decreases if you buy more (5, 10, 20 packs, etc) but none can compete with the price of the same item targeted for a less endowed or perhaps less gluttonous audience. It seems surreal that many places that need these materials are bamboozled into believing that these other items are not of the same quality or some other pretentious blather. The fact is: THESE ARE THE SAME ITEMS.

Disclaimer:

Disclaimer:

This blog is in no way reflective of the wonderful organization of which, I am the proud director. Instead, this serves as a way to vent or share common experiences or head slapping turmoils associated with running a small museum on a shoestring budget.  That being said, do not presume that this is some sort of pretentious way of   "making a name for myself. " My greatest enjoyment comes from the successes and progress that occur at my beloved place of employment. I truly mean beloved because if not for the love of the building, its wonderful artifacts and the people who share the common dream, what is there but simple brick and mortar, cobwebs and droppings, gentle sighs and despair. Like a strong shouldered woman she rises and embraces all that come to know her. For who can say that they have not been impacted by the very size of it. What are 50 plus rooms if you have not wandered around and explored the vast and rich history of Greene County? How often have you discovered new rooms or an item you have not seen before?

It is mind-boggling to even ponder at the wonder of it all. Yet even as I type, there are a vast number of Greene Countians who have never stepped foot on wandering green grass or entered its glorious brick walls. But as this is just a blog and not a flagrant Victorian romance betwixt myself and the museum, I say come out and see what we have done. For it not for the people, who then do we toil daily for?