# Blue Collar

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-collar/191736>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 29, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-collar/191736 "2003-07-29T20:13:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![LizDecker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/22d042/32.png) [@LizDecker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LizDecker)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-collar/191736/1 "2003-07-29T20:13:42Z")

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How did the term “Blue Collar Worker” come about?

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**Author:** ![Frank\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Frank\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank_2)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-collar/191736/2 "2003-07-29T20:47:12Z")

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My guess is that it refers to denim shirts worn by working type people (factory workers, farm hands). A white collar worker would come from when men in the office wore suits with a white shirt.

Laborer - Denim shirt - Blue collar  
Office worker - Dress shirt - White collar

All of this is wild speculation without a single shred of evidence or research. It makes sense in my mind so I’m happy with the explanation. 🙂