42 T HE M I N D O F TH E BUY E R
va rie ty. In ba ckgro und, typ e a n d ill ust ra tion,
on e may achieve, th ank s to th e inven tion s o f
m odern p rin ting, a n umb er o f st riking efi ects.
Th es e va ri etie s, num ero us a s th ey a re, c on
stitute only a frac tion of th e numbe r p ossibl e
i n th e real m o f c olo r. An d effec tive a s a re th e
f orm e r, th ey pal e b esi de th e l a tte r.
S eve ral lines of p roof p oin t to th e overp o w
ering a t trac tiveness of c ol or. F o r o ne, we
n ee d go no furth e r th a n eve ryday observation.
Wh en th e ea rly settlers o f Am eri c a wante d
to m ake a n a ttrac tive p ric e to th e In dian s di d
th ey o fi er bl a ck o r gray bead s? We a re no t
t ol d so. Ra th e r do th e ch ronicl e rs emph a size
ā col ore dā bea ds. I t i s said th a t th e m ail
o rde r h ouse s h ave foun d col ore d ca talogs to
b e ve ry supe ri or to th o se in bl ack and whi te.
M ore scientifi c p roof from th e l ab o ra t orie s is
rep orte d i n th e vol umin ou s li te ra ture up on
th e subj ec t.
If o ur c urio sity l eads u s to inq uire why
c ol or at tract s th e a t ten tion so m uch m o re
easily tha n grayness, w e may fin d a partial
explana tion in th e fac t th a t th e ligh t waves
fo r c ol ors t ravel farth e r th an do th ose for
grayne ss. Wh a teve r b e th e reason, we m ayc onfi den tly employ col or wh eneve r p ossibl e.