Puce
Encyclopedia
Puce is a color
that is defined as ranging from reddish-brown to purplish-brown, with the latter being the more widely accepted definition found in reputable sources. Puce is a shade of red. The Oxford English Dictionary
dates the use of "puce" (in couleur puce) from 1787. The first recorded use of puce as a color name was in the 14th century, in the French language
.
Comics
Games
Film
History
Literature
Music
Television
Color
Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
that is defined as ranging from reddish-brown to purplish-brown, with the latter being the more widely accepted definition found in reputable sources. Puce is a shade of red. The Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
dates the use of "puce" (in couleur puce) from 1787. The first recorded use of puce as a color name was in the 14th century, in the French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
.
Puce in popular culture
Bottle collecting- In the vintage-bottle-collecting hobby, "puce" is arguably the most desirable color.
Comics
- A collection of Walt KellyWalt KellyWalter Crawford Kelly, Jr. , or Walt Kelly, was an American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip, Pogo. He began his animation career in 1936 at Walt Disney Studios, contributing to Pinocchio and Fantasia. Kelly resigned in 1941 at the age of 28 to work at Post-Hall Syndicate,...
's influential Pogo comics was called "The Pogo Puce Stamp Catalog". It had a puce cover. - In the DilbertDilbertDilbert is an American comic strip written and drawn by Scott Adams. First published on April 16, 1989, Dilbert is known for its satirical office humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office featuring the engineer Dilbert as the title character...
comic strip, the boss's favorite color is puce, but he does not know that because he is mistakenly thinking of a primary color, as he does not know what puce is.
Games
- In the computer game NetHackNetHackNetHack is a single-player roguelike video game originally released in 1987. It is a descendant of an earlier game called Hack , which is a descendant of Rogue...
potions are randomly generated with different colors or other descriptions; one of the colors is puce. - In the board/card game The Great Khan Game by Tom WhamTom WhamTom Wham is a designer of board games who has also produced artwork, including that for his own games.Wham worked a variety of odd jobs during his early adult life. After serving four years in the U.S. Navy, he worked for the Guidon Games hobby shop in Maine where he got his first game, a variant...
and Richard Hamblen issued by TSR, Inc.TSR, Inc.Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
exists a mercenary card called "Admiral of the Puce Oliver Hazerdous".
Film
- Kenneth AngerKenneth AngerKenneth Anger is an American underground experimental filmmaker, occasional actor and author...
directed a short film called Puce MomentPuce MomentPuce Moment is a short 6 minute film by Kenneth Anger, author of the Hollywood Babylon books, filmed in 1949. Puce Moment resulted from the unfinished short film Puce Women. The film opens with a camera watching 1920's style flapper gowns being taken off a dress rack. The dresses are removed and...
(1949). - The fantasy filmFantasy filmFantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
Santa Claus: The MovieSanta Claus: The MovieSanta Claus: The Movie is a 1985 British/American Christmas film starring Dudley Moore and John Lithgow. It is the last major fantasy film produced by the Paris-based father-and-son production team of Alexander and Ilya Salkind...
(1985) referenced "puce" for the color the magic lollipopLollipopA lollipop, pop, lolly, sucker, or sticky-pop is a type of confectionery consisting mainly of hardened, flavored sucrose with corn syrup mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. They are available in many flavors and shapes.- Types :Lollipops are available in a number of colors and...
s that made children fly, including a humorous remark about it: "If this ever takes off, we could make this in liquid form: Puce Juice." - In the animated, adventureAdventure filmAdventure films are a genre of film.Unlike pure, low-budget action films they often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way....
comedy filmComedy filmComedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
Monsters, Inc.Monsters, Inc.Monsters, Inc. is a 2001 American computer-animated film and the fourth feature-length film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It was directed by Pete Docter, co-directed by Lee Unkrich and David Silverman, and written by Jill Culton, Peter Docter, Ralph Eggleston, Dan Gerson, Jeff Pidgeon, Rhett...
(2001), Mike hands his paperwork to Sully, and tells him to "leave the puce". Sully initially has no idea what puce is until he flips through the paperwork, and comments "Oh. That's puce." - Spencer TracySpencer TracySpencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
's character in the romantic comedy filmRomantic comedy filmRomantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
Desk SetDesk SetDesk Set is a 1957 American romantic comedy film directed by Walter Lang and starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn...
(1957) is on the telephone taking down a coworker's message for a "black velvet strapless..with what kind of a scarf.."Puce?!!"..I know how to spell it." - In the comedy horror filmComedy horrorComedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary and film genre, combining elements of comedy and horror fiction. The comedy horror genre almost always inevitably crosses over with the black comedy genre; and in some respects could be considered a subset of it.The short story "The Legend...
Fright NightFright Night (2011 film)Fright Night is a 2011 3D comedy horror film directed by Craig Gillespie. It is a remake of the 1985 Tom Holland film of the same name. The film had its premiere at The O2 in London on August 14, 2011, and was widely released on August 19 in Real D 3D & IMAX 3D.-Plot:The film opens with a vampire ...
(2011), Anton YelchinAnton YelchinAnton Viktorovich Yelchin is an American film and television actor. He began performing in the late 1990s, appearing in several television roles, as well as the Hollywood films Along Came a Spider and Hearts in Atlantis...
's character wears collector's shoes referred to as being puce-colored, with Colin FarrellColin FarrellColin James Farrell is an Irish actor, who has appeared in such film as Tigerland, Miami Vice, Minority Report, Phone Booth, The Recruit, Alexander and S.W.A.T....
's character proclaiming that "it takes a real man to wear puce".
History
- French Queen Marie AntoinetteMarie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
's (1755–1793) favorite color was puce.
Literature
- In the King ArthurKing ArthurKing Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
legendLegendA legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
s, Sir Gareth fights Sir PerymonesRed KnightRed Knight is a title borne by several characters in Arthurian legend. The first is likely the Red Knight of the Forest of Quinqeroi in Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail; he steals a cup from King Arthur and is killed by the protagonist Perceval, who wears his armor and comes to...
, who is a knight called The Puce Knight. - In the Iliningrad Series by Marc Winsland, puce is often used as a curtain backdrop for President Lincoln Sheritan when he delivers speeches out on the campaign trail.
- In the novel UlyssesUlysses (novel)Ulysses is a novel by the Irish author James Joyce. It was first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, in Paris. One of the most important works of Modernist literature,...
(1922) by James JoyceJames JoyceJames Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
, the character Buck MulliganBuck MulliganMalachi "Buck" Mulligan is a fictional character in James Joyce's novel Ulysses. He appears most prominently in episode 1 , and is the subject of the novel's famous first sentence:...
mentions his desire to wear puce gloves. - In non-fiction book The Bookseller of KabulThe Bookseller of KabulThe Bookseller of Kabul is a non-fiction book written by Norwegian journalist Åsne Seierstad, about a bookseller, Shah Muhammad Rais , and his family in Kabul, Afghanistan...
(2003) by Åsne SeierstadÅsne SeierstadÅsne Seierstad is a Norwegian freelance journalist and writer, best known for her accounts of everyday life in war zones - most notably Kabul after 2001, Baghdad in 2003 and the ruined Grozny in 2006.-Personal and professional life:...
, puce is used to describe Sultan's face when he is intensely angry.
Music
- In the song "A more humane Mikado (Let the Punishment Fit the Crime)" in the comic operaComic operaComic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
The MikadoThe MikadoThe Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
(1885) by Gilbert and SullivanGilbert and SullivanGilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
, the title character sings of the dire fate of the woman "who stains her gray hair puce". - In the song "I Love to Color" from his children's album Pockets, Joe Wise talks at length about the characteristics and uses of the color puce.
- Puce features as a color in Ken NordineKen NordineKen Nordine is an American voiceover and recording artist best known for his series of Word Jazz albums. His deep, resonant voice has also been featured in many commercial advertisements and movie trailers. One critic wrote that "you may not know Ken Nordine by name or face, but you'll almost...
's spoken-word jazz album Colors (1967).
Television
- In the animatedAnimationAnimation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
comedy television series The Rocky and Bullwinkle ShowThe Rocky and Bullwinkle ShowThe Rocky & Bullwinkle Show is an American animated television series that originally aired from November 19, 1959 to June 28, 1964 on the ABC and NBC television networks...
(1959–1964), Bullwinkle refers to his high school's colors as pomegranatePomegranateThe pomegranate , Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between five and eight meters tall.Native to the area of modern day Iran, the pomegranate has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times. From there it spread to Asian areas such as the Caucasus as...
and puce. - In episode 18, "I Was a Teenage Monster" (1967), of the situation comedySituation comedyA situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
television series The MonkeesThe Monkees (TV series)The Monkees is an American situation comedy that aired on NBC from September 1966 to March 1968. The series follows the adventures of four young men trying to make a name for themselves as rock 'n roll singers. The show introduced a number of innovative new-wave film techniques to series...
(1966–1968), Richard KielRichard KielRichard Dawson Kiel is an American actor best known for his role as the steel-toothed Jaws in the James Bond movies The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker as well as the video game Everything or Nothing, and Mr. Larson in Happy Gilmore...
's character, after a failed attempt to reverse a mad scientist's brain experiment on him, takes on the characteristics of an interior designer and says, "I would do this room in French Provincial. The color scheme should be lavender and puce." - In the PBS kids television show CyberchaseCyberchaseCyberchase is an American educational television series for children age 6-12, that teaches children discrete mathematics. The show airs on Public Broadcasting Service and PBS Kids GO! in the United States. Seasons one through five were produced by Thirteen/WNET New York and Nelvana...
(2002–2010), antagonist "The Hacker" often refers to puce as his favorite color, being the shade of choice for both his space ship and cape. - In the episode "Comet Kermilian" (2008) of the Disney ChannelDisney ChannelDisney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
animatedAnimationAnimation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
comedy television series Phineas and FerbPhineas and FerbPhineas and Ferb is an American animated television comedy series. Originally broadcast as a preview on August 17, 2007, on Disney Channel, the series follows Phineas Flynn and his English stepbrother Ferb Fletcher on summer vacation. Every day the boys embark on some grand new project, which...
(since 2008), Linda references having a puce awareness ribbonAwareness ribbonAwareness ribbons, due to their ubiquitous nature, have come to symbolize various concerns depending on the colours or the patterns used. For example, black ribbons may be used for mourning....
for AntidisestablishmentarianismAntidisestablishmentarianismAntidisestablishmentarianism is a political position that originated in 19th-century Britain in opposition to proposals for the disestablishment of the Church of England, that is, to remove the Anglican Church's status as the state church of England, Ireland, and Wales.The establishment was...
.