# Blue Collar/White Collar **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2001, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-collar-white-collar/77067 "2001-08-20T01:02:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gorewonfla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/da6949/32.png) [@gorewonfla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gorewonfla)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-collar-white-collar/77067/1 "2001-08-20T01:02:33Z")
What are the origins of these expressions? ---
**Author:** ![Ski\_the\_Soo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Ski\_the\_Soo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ski_the_Soo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-collar-white-collar/77067/2 "2001-08-20T01:05:39Z")
And don’t forget “the gals”, the “pink collar workers” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-collar-white-collar/77067/3 "2001-08-20T01:10:10Z")
It was usual for miner, janitors, etc. to wear blue shirts, where desk workers wore white shirts, ties, and jackets. The terms grew from that. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-collar-white-collar/77067/4 "2001-08-20T01:41:49Z")
**chuck** I’d love to know where you got your info that manual laborers wore blue shirts. I don’t doubt that they did. Just want a cite. I think it is interesting and provocative to note that my M-W Collegiate gives 1920 as the first in-print for “white collar” and 1946 for “blue collar.” I intuitively know that laborers would not wear white or light-colored shirts in their jobs. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-collar-white-collar/77067/5 "2001-08-20T03:22:00Z")
A lot of work uniforms were denim based, with the basic color being blue. I don’t know that blue was actually more prevalent than tan, green, or khaki, but it was a fairly prevalent color. A quick check through some WWII era National Geographics might show whether blue was really the most prevalent color. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-collar-white-collar/77067/6 "2001-08-20T03:34:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by samclem \* > \*\ ***chuck** I’d love to know where you got your info that manual laborers wore blue shirts. I don’t doubt that they did. Just want a cite. > > I think it is interesting and provocative to note that my M-W Collegiate gives 1920 as the first in-print for “white collar” and 1946 for “blue collar.” > > I intuitively know that laborers would not wear white or light-colored shirts in their jobs. \*\* Tell that one to painters. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![psychomonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dec6dc/32.png) [@psychomonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychomonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-collar-white-collar/77067/7 "2001-08-20T03:52:26Z")
Go to a thrift store, and look at the color of work shirts. There are ALOT of old blue shirts other than that, Im not sure a cite exists. -PSM